Ultimatum
by GenericAmerican
Summary: Ivan, an Avatar driver, has a choice, become one of the people or die. A simple choice? Not for him, a lifetime of war has left him scarred; he is haunted by his past and what he is. Can he leave it all behind and embrace the Na'vi way of life?
1. Chapter 1

Well hello to anybody who has decided to give this fanfic a read. First off is the disclaimer saying I don't own Avatar and its all James Cameron's and all that. Second I guess, is that this story has floated around in my head for months and I am finally putting it out there. Third...there is no third but there is a fourth (how that works, I don't know)

This is my first fanfic so read and review, I want to know what others think. And I don't have a spell check thing on my computer so there will be spelling errors, I will try to stamp them out though.

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Ultimatum  
chp. 1

Ivan stared out the mess hall windows at the sun rising over the tree line outside of Hell's Gate. It was six in the morning; it took Ivan a long time to get used to the different time frame on Pandora. But now he was always the first person on base to wake up, he hadn't touched the coffee he made for himself, mostly because he was horrible at making any type of food or drink. He looked out at the sky, later that afternoon Jake Sully and some other Na'vi would be flying in to check up on everyone and talk to Max; Ivan needed to speak with Jake.

He heard footsteps and looked to see a woman, she looked so familiar and only one name came to mind.

"Trudy?" Ivan asked the woman as she walked into the mess hall.

The woman jumped, not expecting random questions from someone she didn't notice in the room. "Uhh, No. Ivan are you okay?"

Ivan shook his head and suddenly the Image of Trudy was gone. Replaced by Cpl. Katherine, one of the 58 humans that chose to stay behind on Pandora. He looked back out the window and remembered that Trudy had died almost a year ago, shot down by that bastard Quaritch.

"Ivan? Ivan? You ain't having a stroke are you?" Katherine asked as she walked up to him.

"No...I'm fine" Ivan replied in a low voice.

"Well you don't sound fine. Why the hell you call me Trudy?"

"I don't know, you look like her I guess."

The short red-headed woman put her hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her. "I don't look at all like Trudy, we don't even have the same hair color." She said with a small laugh "You haven't gone and lost your mind on us have you?"

Ivan looked back out the window, and swirled the coffee in his hand "No, just alot on my mind. Jake is coming in today."

"Well? You going to ask him?"

"Not like I have any other choice." Ivan replied in an almost angry tone.

Katherine left Ivan and started digging through the large freezers in the kitchen, mumbling a low curse when she finds the same couple food choices they have had for the past year, and for the rest of their lives. She looked back up to find Ivan still blankly staring out the windows.

"So, uhh. How is it?" Katherine asked him from the kitchen.

"How's what? The coffee? Tastes like shit."

She huffed, "No, not your horrible coffee. The thing you need to talk to Cpl. Sully about."

Ivan looked at her, then back outside. Remembering the day when he found out. "Well" Ivan said with a sigh. "Max and the others say if I start treatment now, I will have little over a year." Ivan looked back to her. "I am not starting that treatment shit, so Max says I will have somewhere around seven months before I keel over." Ivan laughed a little at the last part, he was talking about his impending death like it was nothing.

"Well, if you can do what Sully and that other Avatar did...what's his name? Uhh...something with an N. If you can do what they did you will be fine right?" Katherine asked as she walked back over to Ivan with her breakfast.

"Ya, I will be fine. My Avatar isn't messed up like me." Ivan finally sipped his coffee and nearly spat it back out. "I don't know how I can screw up working a coffee machine, all you do is add freaking water but I did something wrong."

Katherine laughed, "Ya, I tasted some of it. What the hell did you do?" Ivan just shrugged in response.

"Well anyway, if Cpl. Sully can become one of those Na'vi in three months, then raise an army and kick all the assholes off the planet. Then you, Master Sergeant can do all that in more in seven months." She patted Ivan on the shoulder. More footsteps were coming, everyone else was waking up.

Ivan thought about his Rank in the RDA. Besides Sully, he was the only other military man in the Avatar division. Only his long military past, and special skill set had allowed him the first Avatar made for non-science personnel. He only wondered what would have happened if he caught the opportunity Jake had when he got lost in the Jungle. It probably would not have been a good one; Jake fell in love and had regained the ability to walk. Ivan however gained little from his Avatar body, and falling in love; Ivan laughed at the Idea, he knew he was incapable of that. He probably would have ended up getting orders to kill off their leader and assist in taking down hometree, and he probably would have followed through on those orders.

"It's not that I don't think I can do it, it's that...I don't know if I want to be one of them. It's amazing, being in the Avatar body but this is me." Ivan pointed at himself. "This has been me for all my life, and now I have to give this body up and just jump into another one."

'Not that I really mind my other body,' he thought, 'fewer aches and pains.'

"But I will be giving up what I am, where I come from...what I have done will not leave me just because I have jumped ship. I don't know if I can live in a tree, be peaceful, live with nature, and all that hippie-tree-hugger-bullshit."

Another voice broke in, it was Max. "Well if you don't get over it and you decide to just sit around for the rest of the year, we are going to find you dead in your room one day."

Ivan and Katherine looked at the bearded scientist while he walked up with his breakfast.

"Well that's true." Ivan said. "Have to at least try living like them."

"Well there you go then." Katherine said to Ivan. "Good luck talking to Jake and good luck with that hippie stuff. Well I am off to do the same shit I do every other day." She then walked off.

"What does she do?" Ivan asked Max.

"Same thing all the others do, try and keep this place from falling apart around us. A place designed to hold thousands of people needs a lot of upkeep, hard to do with 60 people." Max said almost as if it was a joke. "Even though we cut off a lot of unessential areas this place is still hard to keep up with, things are always breaking. I don't see how we are going to last for the rest of our lives." Max said grimly. "Well anyway, I am going to finish eating and I will go get the links ready...You going to finish your coffee?"

"Coffee tastes like shit...so no. I am going to go exercise and I will be at the link room later."

With that Ivan headed out to the indoor training area. Even though he spent more and more time linked to his Avatar, he still had to take care of this body; if he didn't he could end up dying a lot sooner than seven months. He ran the obstacle course several times, then forty push ups, sit ups and pull ups. By the time he was done he was ready for a shower.

He was on his way back to his room when suddenly his chest tightened up and his lungs burned. He stopped and started coughing like a madman, he couldn't breathe. He fell to his knees and tried to calm himself down, he was starting to hyperventilate. He tried to slow his breathing but he was coughing uncontrollably and that made breathing even harder. After several minutes of sitting in the empty hall coughing his guts out he was finally able to slow his breathing. His chest felt like it was on fire and his throat was sore from coughing, he noticed a small bit of blood on his lips and on the floor in front of him.

"God damnit, after hundreds of years they still can't makes ones that don't kill you." Ivan huffed out in his native Russian tongue.

He wiped up the blood on the floor and got to his room and showered. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, his gray hair cut short, his face bearing the scars of too many battles, he thought he looked like a monster, but he put his past aside and got dressed. He had been having more and more fits every week, and now he was coughing up blood. He thought about telling Max but decided against it, for no other reason than just not wanting to tell him. He drank down some vodka he had stashed in his room and it burnt on his sore throat. His lungs still felt like fire, but they were always hurting.

When he got to the link room Max asked him why he was gone so long, Ivan said he just stopped to talk and Max said that was a bad lie because he never 'stops to talk', and Max was right; Ivan didn't have many friends. 'Hell' he thought 'I wonder if Jake will even remember me, it's been a year and we didn't really talk before then'. But Ivan put those thoughts aside as he climbed in the link pod and closed the lid.

He listened to the sounds of the machine getting ready to rip his mind out of his body and force it into another, his views on how the linking process worked were a bit more violent than how it actually was; but he didn't pay attention when it was all explained to him, just more science mumbo-jumbo.

He closed his eyes and let himself drift away, through the tunnel of rapidly changing light and then into searing white at the end. His vision quickly focused and he adjusted to the feel of his 'other me'. He drew a deep satisfying breath, and there was no pain in that breath. Only when he was linked did the burning in his chest stop, but occasionally he could feel the pain bleed through, sometimes it would break the link for a second.

He went out and performed the same morning routine as his other body, eating from the gardens in the Avatar compound and running the obstacle course, and showering again. 'Didn't I just do this?' He thought, 'I did, well, minus the almost dying in the hallway.'

He decided to wear what he had on the day they took over Hell's gate, camo cargo pants, jungle boots, black muscle shirt, and his favorite jacket. He looked at the old jacket before putting it on; it had three bullet holes in it, three bullet holes that lined up with the three scars on his Avatar body.

_Ivan was getting ready to link up and he told the people monitoring the links to pull him out if any of the RDA goons busted in. He then linked up to help the others take Hell's Gate. After about ten minutes of combat he found himself under fire from a lone soldier, he waited for the enemy to expend all his ammo. Ivan jumped out too finish him, but then he felt the link break...but before he transferred back to his human body he felt pain rip through his left shoulder.  
_

He pulled himself out of his flashback, he noticed he was sweating; the flashbacks were so real to him, like he was re-living that moment. He was lucky he was pulled from the link though; it spared him the pain of getting shot multiple times, and allowed him to stop several RDA goons from killing all the drivers while they were linked.

He put the jacket on and walked outside of the Avatar cabin, in a few hours Jake would be here, and hopefully he would be leaving with him. Ivan laughed as a thought entered his head, 'Ivan, you must become what you hate in order to live...a hippie.' He didn't really hate hippies but he didn't like the idea of a hippie.

An hour later he heard his comm-unit come to life. It was Jake's voice "Attention Hell's gate, this is Jake Sully, ETA about ten mikes." The next part was said jokingly "make sure the perimeter towers don't gun down me and my friends."

Ivan started out towards where Jake always held the meetings, the prep-room, where the Avatars are prepared for linking, when they first arrived, it has higher ceilings so he can stand without hunching over.

Ivan waited, and finally he saw four figures approaching from over the trees, banshees, or Ikrans as the natives called them. "It's, Jake and friends." Ivan mumbled to himself, he then let out a sigh and gathered his thoughts. 'No worries, this next bit will determine life or death for you, no pressure.'

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Well, that's all I got for a start, I have most of the story already planned out though. Just thought I would stop here.

I think there was too much talking, but that's up to you to decide. Also not telling a lot about Ivan because I think its

better not to know, maybe someone can guess what's wrong with him, pretty simple really.

Oh, and I don't know Russian, I just ran it through a translator. *EDIT* that was a bad Idea, so no more translator; they never work

Hey REVIEW! Please...please

Another chapter tomorrow, or maybe even today if I feel like it.


	2. Chapter 2

Well this was supposed to be put out sooner but I was abducted by friends. By the time I got around to writing it, it was midnight. Then I rewrote it several times and the end result is still something I don't really care for. But here it is.

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Ivan stood at attention as he watched the four Ikrans descend towards an empty space in the Avatar grounds. The one in the lead was definitely Sully's and he guessed one of them was his girl, as for the other two he had no clue; but he didn't much care who they were.

He wondered how to greet Jake, he heard that the Na'vi were not fond of handshakes; he was sure Jake wouldn't care but the others might. Jake was a hero to these people and he was also their leader, he didn't want to piss someone off. Ivan decided to go with old military tradition...a salute.

Ivan started to walk towards the small group as soon as they landed, he recognized Sully easily. He saw one female walking close to Sully,

'So that's Sully's girl?' Ivan thought to himself, 'Nice looking.' He then pushed what he considered non-sense out of his mind. He was not here to look at women, especially other people's women.

Ivan glanced at the other two Na'vi, one male and another female.

When Ivan looked at the male his step faltered as that male was replaced by an image of a badly wounded Na'vi man.

Ivan caught himself and banished the old memories from his mind, and continued walking towards the group.

When he was close enough he looked at Sully and Sully alone, and raised his right hand to his brow.

"Sully" Ivan said, while lowering his hand. "Sorry if that's not how you meet and greet but its all I could think to do."

Jake returned the salute and smiled. "Its been a long time since anyone saluted me, your Ivan right?"

Ivan nodded, "Surprised you remembered...anyway, Max and some others are waiting inside." He motioned towards the building behind him.

Jake told the male and female to stay while he and Neytiri walked towards the meeting place. Ivan fell in step beside him.

Ivan never attended any of these meetings, mainly because he really had nothing to add to them, but everything was different now. He just stood in the corner as Max and others updated Jake on how they were holding up, and also any news or radio transmissions picked up from the long range channels to earth. Some chatter was picked up between the incoming ISV's, the next one would arrive in about four years; and hopefully just leave, but Ivan knew that wasn't likely and so did Jake.

After talking for what seemed like an eternity all humans except Max had left the meeting.

Max looked at Ivan, then at Jake before speaking. "There is one more thing that needs discussing Jake, and that is Ivan here."

Jake looked at Ivan. "What about and why isn't he telling me?"

"I could if you want." Ivan responded. "I am dying Jake, simple as that."

Jake looked confused. "I am sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with me?"

"Well we were hoping that Ivan could follow along in yours and Norm's footsteps and become one of the people." Max cut in. "If he can transfer permanently to this body, then it would save his life."

Ivan watched as Sully considered it. He grew slightly angry inside, when Jake didn't immediately respond and instead looked at his woman. He was mad that someone would have to stop and think about trying to save a life, he was about to voice those thoughts when Jake spoke.

"I don't really see a problem with it, but you have to become a clan member and learn our ways." Jake looked seriously at Ivan. "The Omatikaya are not going to just let you pass through the Eye of Eywa, and then return here. To do this you must be a member of the clan, you have live with us, learn our ways and traditions. For as good a people they are, the Na'vi will not do this for outsiders, you have to truly be a Na'vi."

Ivan was glad he got a yes, but still mad that Sully was acting like he didn't know all this. He wasn't expecting them to just let him transfer to this body, he knew it would mean giving up everything; and that was what bothered him the most.

"I know what I have to do, and I would be lying if I said I am completely one hundred percent happy with changing the way I live. But if it is my only shot at life, then I must try." Ivan responded, masking his current anger. "I know very little about you and the natives, never really met one before. But I can always learn I guess."

The last part was a partial lie; he encountered a Na'vi man before. The memories of the incident started creeping into his mind.

Before Jake could respond, Ivan said in a somber tone. "Hell...a new life...something nobody gets, another chance to try and make up for the mistakes I have made during my life..."

Ivan didn't finish, but instead looked down at the floor with empty eyes.

Jake knew what Ivan was thinking about, giving up your entire life; not easy in any way. No matter how hard he tried he would slip up sometimes and say a human phrase or do something that would earn him confused looks and sometimes disapproval. But he also saw the empty look in Ivan's eyes; maybe Ivan thought he didn't deserve a second chance.

"Well" Jake spoke up. "It's an ultimatum then, I don't give you a chance then you die...I couldn't do that to anyone, we can bring you back to hometree tomorrow if you want, get started right away."

"That would be fine." was the only response Ivan gave, and it was in a less than thrilled voice.

Max realized what was happening to Ivan and broke in, "Well this is great news. Ivan you can go pack some things you might want to take." After Ivan's silent exit he turned to Jake. "Jake, I need to warn you about him."

Jake looked out the door where Ivan left, and then back at Max. "Warn me about what? He seemed depressed but he isn't going to go hurting anyone is he?"

Max pressed intercom on the wall, "Dr. Hart you can come in now."

An older woman walked in from the link center that over looked the prep-room. Her grey hair matched the formal suit she was wearing; Jake thought she looked like the evil old school teachers in children's cartoons. She was carrying a small data tablet.

"Jake this is Dr. Hart, our resident psychiatrist." Max motioned to the woman walking in, "she can tell you about Ivan's condition."

Dr. Hart greeted Jake and Neytiri in the ceremonial Na'vi way then got straight to business.

"Jake, I have been Ivan's psychiatrist for the past six years he has been stationed here. And what you are doing may not only save his life, but also his sanity." Dr. Hart started pulling up files on her data tablet.

"Ivan suffers severely from PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. He has the flashbacks the nightmares the depression, anger, all the symptoms; but his is worse than most other cases I have seen."

Dr. Hart pulled up one last file and looked down to read it. "I have been trying and trying to work with him to find the root of his problems, but Ivan will not talk about his past, he hates therapy and any attempts to learn about him end in failure. So I decided to pull his files...but there is almost nothing on him."

"I had trouble after my tour in Venezuela; I know what he is going through. And his files are missing, things like that happen." Jake added.

"You may have had trouble after your tour, but you have gotten past it. Ivan however just cannot let go of whatever has happened to him. And I know he takes it out on himself; but I don't know why, so that's why I tried to pull up his records." Dr. Hart then read off what was on her data pad.

"What we have on Ivan is limited; we have his birth day, parents, schools, and several jobs. But we get to military service and it ends after five years due to being wounded in action. What there is on his service is good though, several medals and commendations; he was top in his squad at boot camp."

"Okay, so he was wounded and it cut his career short maybe he is hung up about that." Jake added. "I know I was."

"Well I would think that, but the report lists it as non-life threatening. And if you see the scars that man has it can only mean he still served after he was discharged."

"But no records exist for almost twenty years." Dr. Hart shrugged. "Then he suddenly signs up with RDA eight years ago and is immediately put in the Avatar division and given priority over all other drivers, and it took several tries to make his Avatar. It says his is the most expensive ever made, they wanted him here very badly; I don't know why though, I don't have access to that information; and he won't tell."

"Well missing military records could mean some sort of special forces." Jake added

Dr. Hart nodded. "Yes, but the RDA can access that information; it's almost trivial to get a hold of. But there are no records, which could mean something very secretive or it could just mean the files got deleted. But since Ivan won't tell me, I would lean towards some sort of special military service. After all, they don't just hand out Avatar's, this man was wanted here badly; that means he has done some things that distinguished him from anyone else they might have considered. I still don't see why they would want a military Avatar driver though."

Jake looked at Neytiri and then considered all that he was told. "So can we trust him? He isn't still loyal to the RDA is he? He isn't going to snuff me out or something? Or go crazy one day?"

Dr. Hart sighed before continuing "Jake we just don't know. He is not loyal to the RDA, that much is sure; he killed about twenty of the security personnel when we were taking over, maybe even more."

Dr. Hart set the data pad down and smiled at Jake. "And as for him trying to kill you, only if you did something to really piss him off."

"As for going crazy, he holds together fine, but he does fall apart occasionally; he doesn't turn into a sobbing mess or anything, he just gets very depressed, or sometimes angry." Dr. Hart explained.

She said the next part in a firm tone "And Jake, I strongly recommend leaving him alone when he is angry, I have seen him fight; he is no ordinary soldier, which is part of the reason I tried to pull his records. Don't go and ask him about things that would make him uncomfortable, if he doesn't want to talk, don't try to make him."

Jake nodded and said in a light tone "Well I'm not going to interrogate him; I don't know what everyone is thinking we are going to do to him."

"It's just a warning; we don't want someone to end up hurt or worse." Dr. Hart stopped and considered Jake for a second. "Jake? Have you ever had flashbacks? From your time in the service?"

"No, I had dreams sometimes but no flashbacks. Why?"

Dr. Hart huffed. "Well if you did have them you might have known what to expect. Ivan has flashbacks, and it is very dangerous for people around him when he does."

Dr. Hart explained to Jake what to look for to determine if Ivan was having a flashback. She explained what may cause him to have them, and why he has them. And she also explained how to deal with the situation if it happened.

"Do not touch him or even get close to him, he might not know where he is and can be disoriented and confused. He has hurt people in the past when they tried to see what was wrong. Just stand back and call his name; do not get close to him." Dr. Hart warned.

Jake just stood for a minute and let everything sink in. He was now in charge of a man he knew little about; a man suffering from bouts of depression and anger, a man that could probably kill him or anyone else if he wanted. Jake had never seen Ivan fight but the way things sounded, he didn't want to fight him. But if war came with the humans still on route to Pandora, Ivan would be a great asset.

'Jesus' Jake thought, 'what the hell am I getting into.'

Jake then remembered Ivan said he was dying, but didn't say why.

"So what exactly is going to kill Ivan if he doesn't transfer to his Avatar?"

Max jumped in, glad he could be part of the conversation again. "Ivan has lung cancer. He used to smoke a lot, and it may have been caused by something he was exposed to in the past."

"So how long does he have?" Jake asked with concern.

"We estimate around seven months with no treatment." Max said seriously. "With treatment, maybe a little over a year; but Ivan doesn't want to go through treatment just to prolong the inevitable."

Jake could feel the sorrow in the next statement from Max. "What is sad is that on earth he could be saved easy, but we do not have the proper equipment here to save him."

Jake honestly felt sorry for Ivan, from all that he has heard this man is having one rough time. "This man seems to have had one hell of a life." Jake laughed a little. "And now he might be getting another."

Jake looked out the small window on the airlock and noticed it was dark outside. He had really just spent the whole day talking. This was supposed to just be a checkup on the base and now he is in charge of a mystery Avatar driver. He agreed with Max and Dr. Hart that it was late and he and Neytiri headed to the Avatar bunkhouse. They would stay the night; it was a big no-no to travel at night. Equa'th and Peyral were just outside the gardens, they had prepared a meal for everyone. They were Jake's best friends and they were his self appointed body guards, and now, apparently, personal cooks.

Jake re-explained the whole Ivan mess to Neytiri and his friends the best he could, they wouldn't understand some of the psychological parts but they knew Ivan would be trying to become one of the people.

After eating they went to rest in the cabin, Ivan's Avatar was lying in its bunk with a back pack sitting on the floor next to him. Jake was glad that Ivan packed light; it would be hard for his Ikran to carry two people. Jake had no idea how this whole ordeal is going to turn out, Ivan could end up dying before he has the chance to permanently transfer over, or he could decide not to go through with it, or he could make the clan angry and get kicked out, he could get himself killed, or maybe not even be able to pass through the Eye of Eywa. Or he could end up killing someone. But thinking was for tomorrow, for now it was time to sleep.

But for Ivan, sleep would not find him. He skipped eating dinner and headed straight for his room. Images of friends and enemies long past, crept into his mind. Memories of countless battles surged back to him; things he hoped to forget were fresh in his mind.

A painfully hot shower and a bottle of alcohol did nothing to stop the thoughts in his head. He has a second chance at life...but so many lives were cut short by him. Why does he get another chance, why not the husbands and fathers that didn't get to spend their lives with their families? Why don't the innocent people that were caught in the crossfire get a second chance?

'Why me? Why me, why me when I have taken everything from so many; why do I get to start again? Why not them?' Ivan buried his head in his hands, asking silent questions that would never be answered.

'Why do I keep living when everyone else dies, why did I live when _she_ died, why were _they_ killed instead of me?' Ivan started to shake as the last thought brought back memories to painful to bear. 'I don't deserve to get to start over.'

Ivan lay alone in his bunk for several more hours until the mix of alcohol, and exhaustion forced him to sleep. But sleep was no better, he was plagued by nightmares of battles won and lost, men and women long dead, friends come and gone, and all those who died by his hand.

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Well there is chapter 2, I didn't like this one...i don't know why, I just didn't

And for future reference, no more translators; your just going to try to read it and it won't make sense.

Review...please...please,  
it makes me feel like I am writing this for a reason.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, my natural laziness and frequent power outages made this chapter slow to put out. But hey, I thought, today is my birthday, I should put out that chapter I never got around to writing.

I hope I get cake

* * *

Ivan awoke when his latest dream took a turn for the worse and ended with him getting shot. His heart was racing and his breathing was fast, combined with his lung problems; it was as if he was breathing fire. He was coated in a film of sweat, and he was stuck to the bed sheets. Ivan tried to roll onto his back but didn't account for the small size of his bunk. Pain shot up his back as he landed on something hard, rolling once more he found the last of his vodka bottles laying where he fell.

Ivan sat up and the morning sunlight bursting through the small window hurt his eyes. He checked his watch and cursed when he noticed the time, it was only six thirty; but he compared it to the last time he looked at his watch, he had slept only a few hours at most.

He stumbled into his bathroom for a hot shower, but the water heater appeared to have broken sometime yesterday. He settled for a 'piss-warm' shower, and while putting his clothes on he looked into the mirror. When Ivan saw his reflection he almost cringed, the right side of his chest had a large circular mass of scar tissue with several long gashes protruding out in all directions; most noticeably the ones that went up his collar and continued up to his chin and cut across his mouth. His right arm also bore the scars, and burn marks. Those scars were the reason he always wore his jacket.

Ivan recalled the day in one of the nameless mountain villages in Afghanistan, he wasn't in the army anymore; it was during his years as a 'soldier of fortune'. It was just another search for a HVI spotted in the area, but everything went to hell. Ivan and his squad were not welcome and the villagers made that very clear, he and the rest of his squad spent half the day fighting off the villagers.

Ivan couldn't suppress a small smile when an old saying came to mind, 'When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not your friend.'

It was unexpected; the villagers all had weapons like everyone else in the country, but the grenade came out of nowhere. Only through the miracle that is modern body armor did Ivan survive the blast, he was able to continue on until his squad was extracted but spent the next few months in the company hospital.

Ivan traced the scars running up his chin and smiled more, 'chicks dig scars' he thought, suppressing a small chuckle. He had a positive outlook on the ordeal, he had survived along with the rest of his squad, and being wounded like this and surviving got him some serious rep in the company. But even with the scars, and months in the hospital, Ivan barely counted it in the top ten worst days of his life.

Ivan decided to skip exercise today, he was tired from lack of sleep, combined with a slight hangover and all the normal aches and pains; he thought that one skipped day wouldn't kill him.

He checked his watch before heading for the mess hall; it was seven, which means there would be people there. Ivan enjoyed eating breakfast alone because frankly, he wasn't a morning person; and any human interaction during the morning just served to agitate him.

When he arrived the mess hall was full of life, everyone was here; and even after six years on Pandora he could count on his hand the number of people he actually knew. But then the smell of food and fresh coffee hit him, Ivan could kill a man with two fingers, hit a bulls eye at one hundred yards, drive all manner of military vehicles, and defeat almost any man alive in hand to hand combat; but trying to cook a meal always ended in disaster for him. Because of his lack of culinary prowess Ivan had resigned himself to eating MRE's, just to save himself the displeasure of his own cooking; it would be good to eat something different.

The RDA did feed their employees well, even though the choices now were rather limited. Ivan grabbed a plate, and ate it standing; it was an old habit he picked up from his grandfather, he would rather eat standing than sitting, that and Ivan still wanted to avoid human interaction.

Ivan noticed smoke coming from the direction of the Avatar compound, Sully and the others must have caught something to eat. Ivan wondered how long they had been awake; he might have to start waking up even earlier than he was already.

After he finished eating he unceremoniously threw his plate into the sink and started scanning the mess hall for Max. When he didn't see the bearded scientist he found a man he recognized as an Avatar driver and asked about Max. Ivan was told Max was already at the link room, Ivan not liking being late, headed straight for the link room.

When he arrived he found Max already had his link ready.

Max looked up from the control station he was at, "Hey, where have you been. You are always the first person up."

Ivan gave a slight smile and said with sarcasm "I am old and important; the rules of the universe say you can't complain if I want to be a little late."

Max was relieved that Ivan seemed to be in a better mood that last night. "Well your link is ready, Jake and the others are waiting for you, hurry up."

Ivan started settling into his link pod "Like I said, I am old; they can wait an extra couple minutes."

"Well I don't think you want to make Jake wait, since he is giving you a chance at life here. And it won't make a good first impression to make him wait and-" Max stopped when he realized that Ivan had linked as soon as he started talking.

Max was glad that Ivan wouldn't be going to hometree in a bad mood, but even in this good one he was still Ivan, not big on talking. Max made sure the link was stable before heading out to meet with Jake.

Ivan was already up and working out the kinks in his Avatar body. His small hangover was making his head spin; he made a mental note not to get drunk before he linked up.

He got dressed and right before he was going to head out Sully walked in. "Well It's sleeping beauty, how are you Ivan?"

Ivan gave a salute. "Good, doing good, sully."

"Alright first off, call me Jake. Not in the military anymore, and I don't like all the formalities."

Ivan made a disappointed face "No formalities? That was my favorite part; it makes everyone look like pompous assholes."

Jake let out a small laugh "Well I am glad you're in a better mood than last night. You really didn't look to good."

Ivan let out a small sigh then looked around the room before looking at Jake. "Ya, last night was a bitch. I start thinking about things too much and before I know it, it's four in the morning and I am having a mental breakdown, and I go through the last of my vodka."

"I though alcohol wasn't allowed on base? Where did you get it?" Jake asked with a smile

Ivan put his index finger to his mouth "SHH, Max and the others don't know I stole some from Quarritch's personal stash. I am about out now, and Max and the other doctors would freak out on me if they knew I had any." Ivan did quotation marks in the air. "Prohibited substances."

"So Jake, what did they tell you about me?"

"What?" Jake asked

"Well I sure as hell didn't do much talking last night." Ivan said in a light tone. "You and I don't know each other, and I know that Max and that so-called psychiatrist, Dr. Hart, probably tried to warn you that I might go off on some murderous rampage and kill every living being within five klicks." Jake detected a bit of anger in the last part of the statement.

"Well they did talk to me about you."

"What did they tell you?" Ivan stared at Jake with a cold, questioning, gaze.

"They gave me what little they have of your records, they said you have PTSD, said you don't like to talk." Ivan laughed at the last part.

"I don't like to talk yes, but I hate talking to them." Ivan looked around the room quickly before standing up and facing Jake. "I hate to talk to the stupid doctors because that is all they want. All they want to do is talk, and talk...well it's not what I want to do; I want to forget, and I am perfectly fine with myself until they come along and go, it helps to talk about it." Ivan's voice was getting louder. "It doesn't help to talk about the shit I have done, and I certainly doesn't help if I talk to those little pricks" Ivan pointed his hand towards the main facility. "Who just sit their and pretend to give a shit."

"Well, you don't have to talk about it, that's just what they want. I don't really like to either." Jake said trying to deflect Ivan's sudden burst of anger.

When Ivan felt his lungs start burning he stopped and took a few deep breaths to calm down, the last thing he needed was to induce some coughing fit. "Sorry, they just piss me off. So is that all they told you?"

"Pretty much, so anything you would like to tell me?"

"Not particularly. Anything you want to know?" Ivan said in a low flat tone.

"Your records are missing for I think twenty years of your life, that means Special Forces right?"

Ivan rapped his hand in the air "Ding, ding, ding. Ten points, yes, I was for a time. But that's not all, I will let you keep guessing on the other part; because I feel that if I tell you, my old employers will come all the way out here to hunt me down and kill me...and you, and all your friends and family."

Jake couldn't help a small smile. "Well that's fair enough I guess, so what did you pack." He motioned to the backpack still sitting beside Ivan's bunk.

Ivan picked it up and opened it, rummaging through the contents. "I haven't touched this thing for almost a year, but it still had all the things I keep in it for missions. Let's see, first off is my Knife." Ivan pulled out a well worn black combat knife. "Love this thing, had it custom made before I came out here. I also have, binocs, a couple flares, a compass...another knife, some MRE's, a roll of duck tape, some wire...well I don't think I am going to need this." Ivan pulled out a drum magazine for an M-60E4 hydra door gun.

"No actually you won't need much of these things." Jake added, and then smiled. "You should have seen what Norm tried to bring."

"Well then." Ivan turned his backpack upside down and dumped the contents on the floor. "I won't bring it. All I need is my knife...knifes, duck tape is always handy, you can't use the damn binoculars in the jungle anyway, and the compass has a habit of not working here, well I can shove some extra shirts in here now. Norm was that tall, nerdy guy right? Attacked a guard when Quaritch hit home tree?"

"Ya, Norm might not be a violent person but he will fight back if you push him. Well you can get those extra clothes in there, but after I while you won't be wearing them anyway. Meet me outside when you're ready."

"Ooah." Was Ivan's response.

"You are not a Marine." Jake said.

"I know, a little baby Marine says Hoorah, I say Ooah." Ivan joked. Then looked up to the ceiling trying to remember. "I don't think I have fought a Marine before."

"Alright whatever, I don't want to have to fight...whatever you are anyway. Wouldn't look good to the rest of the clan if you started fighting with their Olo'eyktan." Jake started to walk out.

"What the hell is an Olo-key-tan?" Ivan asked, without looking up from his packing.

Jake stopped at the door to the Avatar bunker. "It means clan leader, wait, you don't know Na'vi do you?"

"I used to know a little, but six years of absolutely no use made me a little forgetful." Ivan zipped up his pack and put it on. "Well I am ready."

"Well this is great...If I can learn it you can too."

Ivan laughed, "You know, that will make six languages I know, and hell; I only use one of them right now."

Jake looked surprised. "Six?"

"Yep, Russian, English, Arabic, German, Chinese, and now...Na'vi." Ivan said while walking out the door. "Not that I remember much of anything other than Russian and English."

Jake and Ivan started walking towards the small column of smoke rising from fire they built on the basketball court. "What the hell did you do that required knowing all those?"

"If I told you, I would have to kill you...just joking. But it was part of the job, all the places I worked at, needed to know the local language."

It made sense to Jake, maybe he would find out more as time past. Jake was interested in Ivan, the man had obviously seen a lot in his life; 'hell' he thought, 'even his Avatar looks like it has seen a lot'. Jake noticed the multiple gunshot wounds, and other small scars on Ivan. A warrior with two bodies, a warrior through and through; was Jake's summary of Ivan.

As they approached the basketball court, Ivan could smell meat cooking. Where they found any animals to cook was beyond him, nothing strayed to close to base anymore. Jake greeted the three other Na'vi in their language before introducing Ivan.

"Ivan, this is my mate Neytiri." Jake motioned to the woman, and then to the others. "And this is Equa'th." The hunter nodded his head, "And this is Peyral." The woman gave some hand sign. "Everyone, this is Ivan; he will be coming with us to become one of the people."

Ivan didn't really know what to do, he couldn't talk to them and he doubted if they knew English. So Ivan gave them all a nod.

"Ivan is not a man of many words. And I hope you all will make him feel welcome while he trains to become on of us."

Ivan noticed Jake was still talking in English, so maybe they did understand it. "I won't be too much trouble. And I would like to thank Jake, and everyone for the chance to become one of the people."

Equa'th then spoke in stumbled English. "Jakesully has told us that you are a warrior like him, and you fought the evil Tawtute during the time of great sorrow; one day I hope to be able to call you brother."

Well Ivan thought that things were getting off to a good start. After a brief talk and going waiting for Jake to say goodbye to Max, the Na'vi called their Ikrans.

Ivan didn't flinch as the four Ikrans touched down, some hissing at him. He knew enough that you weren't supposed to look them in the eye, so he kept his view low. They were amazing looking creatures, shame Ivan had took the lives of several; 'hopefully' Ivan thought, 'I didn't accidentally kill mine.' As soon as that thought entered his head, he remembered his feelings on flying; not his favorite past-time.

The riders mounted their beasts and Jake motioned for Ivan to climb on.

Ivan climbed on, and after having to put on arm around Jake he laughed out. "Well, this isn't the most awkward situation I have been in."

Jake laughed as Ivan held tight as he took off, even after taking flight Ivan didn't loosen his grip. "You trying to kill me?"

"Sorry, flying is not my favorite thing, and this..." Ivan looked down over the side of the Ikran. "I am fine in a helicopter or a plane, but this...you're the only thing to hold on to so get used to it."

The rest of the trip was done in silence. Ivan looked to his watch, he set the stopwatch function when they left, it had been four hours, and Jake said they were halfway there. After a brief break, they continued; for another four hours until a large figure appeared from the Jungle canopy.

"So that's it?" Ivan asked.

"You think?" Jake replied.

"No, not really, I'm sure there is another big ass tree around the corner."

They got closer and closer, the figure got bigger, and Ivan could finally make out that it was the biggest tree he had ever seen. Jake and the others set down in a field outside hometree, and were welcomed by many people. Ivan couldn't understand a word that was said, but he wasn't going unnoticed by the people.

"So what do you think?" Jake asked when they finally got inside.

"I think it's the biggest damn tree I have ever seen, and that it's a bit crowded. And it's a nightmare tactically."

"Well, it's actually slightly smaller than the old hometree, but we still have a lot of room, it is only crowded because everyone is down here right now. And what do you mean, tactical nightmare?"

"From an attacker's standpoint, this place would be a bitch to attack. Unless of course you are rolling in like Quaritch did and just destroyed the place. But if they didn't have the power to bring it down, the inside here looks easily defensible, and a nightmare to attack." Ivan examined the main hall of the tree. "But, if the attackers made headway, it would be a nightmare for both sides, the attackers would have a problem advancing up the three, but the defenders would be effectively trapped on the upper levels."

"You don't switch off do you? I watched you on the way in here, your examining the place like your planning for war, and you looked real uncomfortable around all the people." Jake examined. "Hell, even the way you walk seems to scream, soldier here."

"Sorry" Ivan said. "But it's my job...was my job. All my life. So what are we doing? Not just standing around I hope."

"Don't worry; I find it hard to stop thinking like a Marine sometimes. But you get to meet Mo'at, she is Neytiri's mother and Tshaik; a spiritual leader."

Jake wandered off to find Mo'at and Ivan checked his watch, it had been roughly nine hours since they left. But it was still only four p.m.

Ivan felt entirely out of place, he was wearing boots, cargo pants, his Jacket, while everyone else wore basically nothing. He kept getting looks and he swore people were talking about him, but he ignored it; instead taking time to memorize the layout of the room he was in, it was just an old habit, one that could keep you alive.

He looked for one of the four people he knew, Neytiri went with Jake, Peyral went up further into hometree, and he couldn't see Equa'th. He took his backpack off his back and instead held it in his hand, he started to wander around his immediate area; to hell with standing here looking like an idiot was his thoughts. He examined the many columns, the spiral that extended up the tree, and the massive platform he guessed was for Jake if he was making a speech. He heard singing, talking, fires burning; children were playing outside the tree. Ivan stopped dead; the combination of sounds seemed so familiar to him. Suddenly he didn't know where he was.

_Ivan was sitting in a small outdoor coffee shop, he was in civilian clothes, but underneath his jacket was a VZ-12 smg. He was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, and also a small almost invisible earpiece. He looked around him, hundreds of people were walking the street he was on, and in the distance was what he guessed was a small park; he could hear children playing. He took a sip of his drink and checked his watch, trying his best to look unimportant. _

_His earpiece came to life, "This is two, in position."_

_"Copy, everybody sound off." Another voice said._

_"One, here."_

_"Two here."_

_"Three is here"_

_Ivan leaned his head against his hand on the table, discreetly pressing the earpiece. "Four ready." he whispered._

_"Five, ready to rock n' roll." _

_"Alright, be ready to move, target will be on site in four mikes."_

_Ivan shifted his position in his chair, getting ready to jump into action when he was needed. He felt adrenaline start to pump in his body, this was it; the calm before the storm. Ivan's targets had no idea what was coming._

_"Target in sight, everybody brace; detonate when the target stops. Be ready to rush the building, remember five minutes in, three to get out." Ivan heard everybody copy. He saw the target, the business man was in a limo, and there was the limo._

_"Alright, detonating in-" The voice was cut short. "Sir, we can't do this, there are children."_

_"What?" _

_"Children right there, you idiot, the target stopped right by them!"_

_"We are getting paid too much to stop because of children." The man said in the most bone chilling voice Ivan ever heard in his life._

_"You can't-" _

_The bomb detonated, the explosion came from a small charge placed at the front of the office building. The limo flipped, and flew across the street. It was chaos, every body running in every direction imaginable, the screams of hundreds of terrified people. _

_Ivan sprang from his seat and readied his weapon, pushing past the crowds of people as he made his way to new entrance blasted in the office building. He stopped in his tracks as he noticed a small mutilated figure crying on the side of the road. A child, lying there screaming, burns covering his whole body, part of his arm missing, blood pooling under him; and no one was going to help him. Ivan tried to continue inside, but he couldn't. He turned to the child when someone yelled at him over his earpiece._

_"Ivan!"_

_"Ivan!"_

"Ivan."

Jake came back with Mo'at and Neytiri to find Ivan standing stock still, staring out the entrance of hometree. His pupils were larger than normal, and he was sweating lightly. He remembered what Dr. Hart told him, and called his name.

Ivan blinked rapidly a couple times, and looked around; realizing where he was. He turned to face Jake and an older looking woman, in red clothing.

"Ivan are you okay?" Jake asked with concern.

Ivan didn't respond right away, just blinking a couple times and looking around. "Ya...ya, just...it's nothing." He finally responded.

"Ivan this is Mo'at" Jake motioned to the woman beside him.

Mo'at stepped forward and examined him top to bottom. Her eyes showed wisdom beyond measure, as she circled him. She took out a small bone, and jabbed Ivan with it; then tasted his blood. Afterwards she stared at him for a few moments.

"Your mind is burdened by things of your past. You have not learned to let. You seek to forget, but you cannot." Mo'at began. "You come to us for a chance at survival, but inside you doubt your ability to abandon your past, you are afraid of changing who you are, you are afraid of bringing harm to our people. You do not care for yourself, but you do for others."

Ivan didn't respond, instead he gave a confirmatory shake of his head. This woman just read him like a book.

"You seek to do good, but you are doubtful because of your past." Mo'at said. "But your past does not matter here, Ivan." She drew his name out as she said it. "Every person is capable of change, but you must accept the change, you cannot have doubt."

Ivan still didn't respond. He was still shaken by the thoughts he just had, and that this woman seemed to be seeing into his very soul. He was also feeling extremely tired.

Ivan couldn't concentrate; he heard talking but couldn't focus on the words. He started to worry if something was going wrong with his real body.

He barely noticed Jake was standing in front of him, trying to get his attention.

"Ivan, are you okay?" Jake almost yelled.

"I-I don't feel right." Ivan was barely able to choke out the words. "I think I need to break the link."

Jake agreed and walked him up a few levels of hometree. Jake showed him to an empty hammock, and motioned down to it.

"You-have to be-kidding me, a freaking hammock."

"Yes, now lie down and find out what is going on."

Ivan couldn't argue about the hammock, he wedged his backpack in between several smaller branches and practically fell into the hammock. Before he knew it the link was broke, and he was staring at the inside of the link capsule. He felt worse, his chest was on fire, he was tired, and he would have gone to sleep inside the capsule if Max didn't open it.

The last thing Ivan saw before he faded from consciousness was Max's worried face.

* * *

I didn't really check any of this, its 2:00 a.m. right now...but at least I finally got this out there. Shouldn't take that long for me to write in the future.


	4. Chapter 4

Well this certainly took too long too write. And its short too, I decided too put something out there instead of taking longer to make this longer.

I think anyone reading this should assume that I will never ever update...that way we can all be surprised (including me) when I do update.

* * *

Nothing, nothing was exactly what Ivan was feeling. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he couldn't feel anything. Slowly his senses returned to him, the first was his hearing. A steady beep was the first thing Ivan noticed; the next was the soft hum of the lights. Ivan opened his eyes and the light stung, he tried to focus but the world was blurry.

After several minutes his eyes focused and he found himself in the infirmary. The sterile smell, the white walls, the monitors, the uncomfortable bed; all things Ivan hated. He hated hospitals; he hated how the doctors would treat you as if you were a baby, and how they would act as if you were stupid if you didn't follow their 'advice'. He hated being hooked up to all the machines, all the wires and cords, all the things they stabbed into you. He hated these places, and he wasn't set on staying.

He sat up and swung his feet off the bed and to the floor, after testing to see if he could stand he did. He began unhooking everything the doctors had shoved into him, when he ripped one off of his finger a constant and ear piercing sound filled the room. Ivan had unhooked his heart monitor and the machine though he had flat-lined, the sound instantly gave Ivan a nasty headache and he desperately tried to turn the machine off. After being unsuccessful, Ivan grabbed the machine and smashed it into the wall; the small machine shattered and the noise stopped.

Before Ivan could get out of the room though the glass door opened and a middle-aged doctor ran in with a worried expression on his face.

The doctor stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Ivan for half a second before speaking with a slight German accent. "Hey, you didn't have to break it." He smiled.

"It wouldn't shut up." Ivan responded. "What the hell happened, why am I here and why do I feel like I got ran over?"

"First off Ivan my name is Wilson." The doctor said offering his hand to Ivan. "And second, you need to stop destroying my equipment and lie back down."

Ivan gave Wilson a 'screw you' look, "No thank you, just tell me what happened, and how long I have been out."

Wilson grabbed Ivan's arm and tried to force him to sit, Ivan didn't budge and gave him a look that said 'if you touch me again I will break your arm in four places.'

Ivan freed himself from the doctor's grasp with little effort and asked again. "What happened?"

"Well plain and simple, your body is exhausted." Wilson said while stepping back, Ivan was one hell of a mean looking old man.

"What?" Anger flashed through Ivan's voice. "Exhaustion? That's it? Now that sounds like bullshit to me, exhaustion." Ivan gave a small laugh. "What's really the problem I can deal with it, I am not a kid."

"That's it, it was exhaustion. Well not entirely, Max can explain more; it has something to do with the Avatar's and linking...not my specialty." Wilson said holding his hands in the air.

Ivan grumbled, he was angry; the longest ever he had stayed awake was almost a week, and here he is in the infirmary for exhaustion. It made his blood boil, he was angry with himself; this kind of thing should never happen to a man like him.

Ivan clearly showed his anger on his face and in his voice. "Well where the hell is Max?"

Wilson walked past Ivan and picked up the broken heart monitor. "Asleep, like I was until you decided to wake up. It's uhh..." He checked his watch. "Four in the morning Ivan, you should go back to sleep; it's what you need most now."

Ivan walked towards the door. "Fine, but I am not sleeping in here." Wilson tried to go after him "And don't you dare try to stop me."

And with that Ivan was left alone as he walked to his room. The only noise was the soft thud of his bare feet on the cold floor, and the occasional eerie sound of the building creaking. His chest started burning again, pain was a constant in Ivan's life; never being able to escape and it only gets worse.

As he walked the empty corridors he started talking to himself. "Exhaustion, that's...freaking bullshit. The man that stayed up five days straight on the run from an entire town passes out from exhaustion and he wasn't even up one whole day!"

Ivan allowed the anger to boil inside of him, it was maddening to him; the last thing he needs now is to have everyone thinking he is feeble, or to actually start being feeble.

After several minutes of walking the empty halls he came to a small intersection of corridors. On the left was the way to the refinery, a sealed door separating it from the rest of the base. The hallway beyond the door was bathed in an eerie darkness, the kind that could scare any man. The refinery had been sealed off because no one needed to go there anymore, that and rumors had started about something living in the refinery. Ivan didn't pay much attention to rumors, but something could easily hide in one of the largest parts of Hell's Gate.

Ivan started walking again, it wasn't far to his room and he needed to get out of the medical gown the doctors stuck him in.

After arriving at his room and cleaning up, he sat on his bunk. The room completely dark except for a small clock on the nightstand next to his bunk; the green light from the clock was being reflected by the barrel of Ivan's ReX-50 revolver sitting on the nightstand. Ivan grabbed the revolver and made sure it was unloaded before he twirled it in his hand, then changing the direction of the spin, back and forth before stopping and pretending to holster it; then quick drawing it with a spin. He always liked the useless skill, 'Like a cowboy' he thought as he examined the weapon he purchased shortly before shipping out to Pandora.

The Rex-50 was a large six round revolver. Its designation of ReX was a sort of pun for the large size of the weapon, the 50 was for its ammo type. It was chambered in a newer .50 magnum round that could penetrate body armor at close ranges, and could even kill without the need to penetrate the armor at mid-range. Normally Ivan would have stuck with a standard side arm, but Ivan had a 'thing' for heavy hitting weapons, and this was 'heavy' in all senses of the word.

Ivan set the weapon down, and let out a long sigh. He brought a lot from Earth, he knew before he left that he would never be coming back so he took all he could. He laid down and tried to get some sleep in before the sun came out, but his mind kept going back to Earth, his home that he would never see again. It didn't matter if it was dirty and dying, it was home; and he would never see it again. Even if he had the chance to go back, he knew he could never actually do so. His thoughts drifted to the reason he was on Pandora in the first place, the same reason that would stop him from going back to Earth.

* * *

Ivan awoke like every other day, to the blinding orange light of the sun piercing the veil of darkness that was his room. He never needed to set his alarm on this planet; the sun woke him up every day for the past six years. He headed out to the indoor gym and did his morning exercises, after yesterday's incident he couldn't afford to start letting his body get out of shape.

After his exercises were done he headed to the mess hall, for another ritual of his; horrible coffee and a worse meal. But after preparing his coffee and grabbing an MRE he sat down at a table and only stared at his food. He was too tired to even eat, sleep didn't do much for him anymore; and every day it only got worse.

Max, always being one of the first people up in the mornings besides Ivan; went to check on Ivan in the infirmary. When he only found Dr. Wilson asleep in his office he started to panic, Ivan was in no condition to be wandering around Hell's Gate alone. Without waking Wilson to ask about Ivan, Max ran off to find Ivan. After searching for Ivan at his room, the gym, and all the hallways in between without success, Max began to seriously worry. What if he had another incident, he could be dead for all Max knew.

But the sound of snoring caught his ear, and the smell of coffee. Max walked into the mess hall to the sight of Ivan asleep on a table, his head laying on top of an MRE, the contents had been squished out of the packet.

Max gave a sigh of relief and walked over and placed his hand on Ivan's shoulder to wake him up. Max was so glad that he hadn't found Ivan dead that he forgot one important rule when dealing with Ivan, don't touch.

The next thing Max knew, he was slammed face first against the table with his arm twisted painfully behind his back.

"Ivan it's me, it's me Max!" Was all he could choke out between the pain.

He felt the grip on his arm loosen, and then he was pulled off the table.

"Jesus you idiot, I thought you knew better than to do what you just did." Ivan mumbled, while trying to wake himself up.

Max rubbed his arm, and checked to see if his face was still in one piece. "I was looking everywhere for you, you should have stayed in the infirmary; in your condition you don't need to be running around alone."

"And what condition is that?" Ivan asked. "Dr...what's his name...told me I passed out from exhaustion?" Anger returned to his voice, but he suppressed it best he could. "That's bull…exhaustion. Ha, exhaustion my ass. What the hell is going on?"

It was Max's turn to get angry. "What's going on? We took some blood samples, you have been drinking?" Max almost yelled the last part. "Where did you find..No it doesn't matter, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Ah, piss off." Ivan said with a wave of his hand.

"Do you know what effects alcohol has on you during a link? Do you? That, plus the fact you are breaking almost every single regulation there is concerning Avatar drivers."

"No I don't doctor. So please...enlighten me." Ivan mocked.

"First off, the alcohol will affect your brain, motor skills, judgment..."

Ivan interrupted. "Can I get the cliff notes version please?"

Max had to stop to dumb down his explanation before continuing. "It affects your brain, and during a link, we link your brain to the Avatar...being drunk tends to screw with the process."

"I wasn't drunk; I might have had a hangover bu-"

"It still causes problems. All of that, plus the broken regulations; you are a disaster waiting to happen. How you even got to be a driver in the first place is beyond me." Max threw his hands in the air.

"What do you mean? What regulations?"

"First off, you are way too old; there is an age limit if you didn't know. Second, you suffer from PTSD; people with mental disorders are not allowed to be drivers. Third, you are suffering from a major illness, linking takes a lot out of your body and having cancer isn't helping. You don't get enough sleep, you don't eat...you drink!" Max toned his voice down incase people started showing up, no need to make a scene. "Your body cannot handle this. Not in this condition and not at this age, and NOT when you do stupid things like get drunk."

Max was fuming, how someone like Ivan even landed a spot on the Avatar program was beyond him, it was supposed to only be for scientists; not mysterious special forces soldiers who were to stupid to realize they were completely unfit to link up; and stupid enough to do something like get drunk.

"Well." Ivan said in a calm tone. "No, I didn't know there was an age limit. PTSD...mental disorder, its just some bad memories...Major illness, you got me there. I have never slept much in my life, I don't eat much either, and you don't have to worry about me drinking...I ran out."

Max was still angry but he calmed down. "Ivan, you are going to have to take things easy. You will have to limit your time you spend linked up, and make sure you take care of this body." Max pointed at him. "You can't take much more, you may not think so; but you are close to the end, you mess up now...well...your dead. We are trying to save you, you can't go and do things like get dr-"

Ivan cut him off, "If you say 'get drunk' one more time, I will rip your throat out, I told you I am out of booze."

"Alright, alright."

With that Ivan ate what was left of his squished MRE and ignored his coffee. Max fixed actual food, and offered some to Ivan but he refused it. After finishing up, they headed to the link center.

Ivan sat down in the link capsule and got ready for his first, or second day, he wasn't sure if yesterday counted, at home tree.

"Remember" Max called out. "Take it easy; what you do in you Avatar does have small effects on this body too. And don't spend all day in it either."

"Alright mother." Ivan said in a dry voice as he closed the lid on the link capsule.

* * *

This was supposed to cover the entire day, but I cut it short...because it's 5:00am and I haven't slept, nor will I sleep any time soon.

I have written a piece from a much later chapter, and am wondering if I should put it out as a bonus thing. Its a part of the story I want to get to, but I have to actually start writing first...getting things off the ground is hard.

Also, as far as character and location descriptions go; I won't be overly specific unless I need to be. I find that when I read, I forget the long descriptions of places and people, and instead replace them with my own mental image of the character or place. So feel free to interpret locations and characters how you see fit.

P-wease read and Review...makes me feel better bout me-self.


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter brought to you by store-brand hot pockets, keeping me up at 5:30a.m. And constant prayers and sacrifices to the computer Gods...cause my six year old rig is slowly dying.

* * *

Ivan awoke in his Avatar body, and it was a much better than how he woke up only hours earlier. The first thing that Ivan noticed was the smell, not the sterile smell of Hell's Gate, but the smell of the Jungle. It was also quiet; he could faintly hear talking from below him; although he could not understand the words. When he opened his eyes he found himself incased in his hammock.

"How the hell-" Ivan mumbled while he felt the around top and sides of the hammock. When he touched the right side, the fibers flashed purple and slowly the hammock opened.

Ivan watched the fibers as the hammock opened. "Well that's...cool." He said, while sitting up.

After sitting up, he tried to stand but the hammock shifted under his weight.

"Holy shit!" He said in surprise and he quickly sat back down.

Ivan then did something he shouldn't have, he looked down.

"Holy Shit!" He yelled when he noticed how high up he was. Of course Jake had to stick him several hundred feet up, and Ivan wasn't a fan of heights.

Looking to the branch above him Ivan readied himself, and lunged at it. The hammock shook violently as Ivan grabbed the branch and hauled himself up.

Sitting down on the branch Ivan checked and made sure he was alone; all the other hammocks were empty. He then pulled his backpack up to him and unzipped it. He pulled out a pair of suspenders, one of his knives and a small roll of ductape he brought. He took his jacket off and put the suspenders on, then took his knife and positioned it in a comfortable position on the suspenders and secured it in place with the tape. He put his jacket on and checked to see how well the knife was hidden; he wasn't about to walk around unarmed, a soldier never ever went anywhere unarmed. But he wasn't sure on how Jake or any natives would react if he walked around showing off a knife, so he made sure it didn't show under his jacket.

Standing up, he tried not to look down as he searched for a way down. Making his way to the center of all the branches there was a large spiral that ran down the center of the tree. There were two different parts he could walk down, but one was probably for going up and the other down; he didn't know which was which so he picked the one on the right at random.

As he walked down the spiral he came across several Na'vi, he could swear some would whisper to others around them when he passed by. Several smiled at him, and some ignored him entirely. But receiving any attention at all disturbed him, it was instinct; he had spent the last twenty years of his life trying to avoid attention, always on the run, always trying to hide. But here, he couldn't hide; he stood out from everyone else, and this made survival instincts kick in, and he wanted desperately to run. But there was no where to run, he couldn't just run off to another city or leave the country; he was stuck here.

'At least I'm not on Earth anymore...but even that didn't stop them.' Ivan thought.

After what Ivan guessed had been five minutes of slowly descending the spiral the smell of food was strong and he could easily hear talking and the crackle of fires. Stepping off the spiral he wasn't at the bottom of hometreee but on a lower level, it was full of small fires that were circled by Na'vi eating their morning meals.

He was hungry, this body hadn't ate since yesterday morning, but unlike at Hell's Gate, he couldn't just grab a MRE; in fact, he had no real idea what to do. He knew four people, Jake, Neytiri, Equ'ath and Peyral; five if you counted Mo'at. He searched the room trying to find someone he knew, and he spotted Jake and Neytiri sitting around a fire with two others he didn't know, but one looked strangely familiar.

As he walked towards the fire pit Jake noticed him and motioned him over. Ivan walked over and snapped to attention.

"Master Sergeant Petrovich reporting to General Sully as ordered." Ivan reported.

Jake smiled, "Well at ease Sergeant, have a seat." After Ivan sat down Jake continued. "Last I remember I was a corporal, not a general."

"One hell of a command for a corporal, I think you earned a promotion...I could promote you, I am acting security chief of Hell's Gate. I hope I don't have too do too much as acting commander though...Never been one for command." Ivan stopped and looked at the man to Jake's left, the one he thought he recognized. He was sitting with a woman, sitting too close to just be friends. He wasn't a Na'vi, he was an Avatar; he had five fingers, eyebrows, and what Ivan thought was a 'nerdy' look.

Ivan pointed to him, "I know you."

The man was about to answer before Ivan spoke. "Spellman right? The scrawny-little-science-puke that tried to punch out a guard the day Quarritch hit hometree."

Norm's mouth was left open at Ivan's 'kind' words.

"Don't worry." Jake said to Norm, "That's how an old military dog says hi."

"Ya" Norm said, "You saw that?"

"I'm the Master Sarge." Ivan grinned. "I know all, I see all, I hear all." Jake laughed at the old military humor, "My impressive omnipresence aside, yes I was in the room."

"Well that was me, you can call me Norm. And this-" Norm put his arm around the woman next to him. "This is Ninat, my mate." Norm motioned to Ivan, "Ninat, this is Ivan."

"I see you Ivan." Ninat said, and Ivan swore she sung the words.

'I hope you see me, I'm right in front of you.' Ivan thought to himself. "Nice to meet you."

"So Ivan?" Jake asked. "What happened yesterday? You looked like you were about to keel over."

Anger returned to Ivan, he was still mad over what he had been told. "Max and the other doctor said that I was...and get this...exhausted. Bullshit." He left out what Max told him about his breaking of regulations.

"Well the linking process does take a lot out of a person." Norm added.

"Well it's still bullshit."

"Why?" Jake asked. And Norm finished, "Ya, why Ivan? Sometimes, you body is just tired. It can happen to anyone."

"It's not the actual act of me being tired, I can admit it; I am old, worn out, and tired as hell. But it's the thought...or the principle of it. I was trained to ignore fatigue, trained to keep going no matter what. Do you know what would happen if I told one of my instructors that I was tired? Do you? First, he would have laughed, then he would have beat the shit out of me; and verbally assault me with every curse word known to man. Then he would make me run laps around base in full combat gear for a day straight, then he would have made me spar with everyone on base...make me run the obstacles twenty times in a row, by the time I get done with all that, it would be tomorrow and he would make me do it all over again. Then after several days he would ask me if I was tired, and you know what I would say...'No-sir'. And it wouldn't be a lie."

Jake knew what Ivan meant; there were some people that just would not accept any form of 'weakness' in their lives. Ivan was one of those people, the kind of soldier that can run for days on end and then turn around and run all the way back; and if they even thought about being tired or complaining they would mentally punish themselves. The thought of being 'weak' was worse than death to them, they would never stop or quit no matter how tired, hungry, or hurt they were. It was a good thing in some cases, the man would never stop; he would get the mission done no matter what. Other cases ended up bad, they tried to hard and end up killing themselves; or start to hate themselves, and become angry. Jake hoped Ivan wasn't someone that would beat himself up over being tired.

"Speaking of the tired, poor, and hungry." Ivan said. "I hope you have some food."

"Oh yes." He handed a small bowl to Ivan. "Sorry, it's all we have right now. We usually don't have meat for breakfast, unless there is any left over from last night's hunt."

"It's fine." Ivan took some of the food from the bowl, it was small and squishy but it didn't matter; he ate it and wasn't surprised to find it more enjoyable than the MRE he had earlier.

Everyone watched as Ivan ate the food, hoping Ivan would ask what it was; but since he didn't seem to care Jake spoke up. "That's Teylu you're eating."

"It's good. Small portions though." He said between bites.

"It's beetle larvae." Jake watched for Ivan's reaction, but he didn't seem to care.

After several more bites Ivan asked. "What? Everyone keeps looking at me, what, is this stuff supposed to freak me out or something?"

"Well." Jake motioned towards Norm. "When I first told him what he was eating, he almost threw up."

Ivan laughed and looked at Norm, "Science guy has a weak stomach huh?"

"No." Norm said defensively. "It just surprised me; I never ate anything thing like that before then...I was kind of hoping you would at least react to being told what you are eating. I mean it's beetle larvae, doesn't that weird you out at all."

"Does it weird you out." Ivan asked back while taking another bite.

"Not anymore. I mean, I heard Jake freaked a little when he first ate it."

Jake nodded and Neytiri smiled, remembering when he first arrived at the old hometree.

"Well it don't bother me. And it shouldn't." He set the bowl down, "During Spec forces training, we had to learn to eat what we could. The instructors wouldn't feed us for days, and when they did, they usually left the food in the dumpsters or in the mud; or-" Ivan chuckled a little. "In the head once...ever eat off food off a toilet or shower floor? And besides, this stuff tastes good; it isn't covered in blood and dirt, it doesn't smell, and it's in a bowl...a lot better than most of my eating arrangements."

"So you were special forces?" Norm asked.

"Yes, Spetznaz operator for six years. You can join Jake in the guessing game for the next twenty or so years of my life."

"Spetznaz that is..." Norm ran through what little he knew of military groups.

"Russia. I'm Russian." Ivan said.

"Great, now I know a Russian. The number of people from Earth I know is only getting smaller; it is nice to get some diversity."

"Diversity? I hope you aren't expecting that I can be some sort of cultural...reference sheet for my country or something. I only lived there until I sold my soul to the military, after that; I spent almost null time at home."

Home, Ivan mentally laughed at the word. He hadn't had a home in twenty years.

"No, it's just cool to meet people from other cultures."

"So, you are from a different clan?" Neytiri asked.

"Clan? I am from a different country." Ivan answered.

Neytiri looked slightly confused, so Norm explained. "On Earth we don't have clans, we have countries. You could say they are very, very large clans. Or sometimes a country is a collection of...clans that come together to make up a larger one. But I guess it doesn't matter what you call them, Jake and I are from the United States of America, and Ivan is from the Russian Federation."

"Sky people terms can be confusing, clan, coun'tree. Always many words that mean the same." Neytiri said.

"I don't think it matters." Jake said. "Clan, country, it means the same thing."

"Well technically it doesn't." Norm said back. "Something like a small tribal group is a clan-"

"Jesus, lets start arguing over something pointless." Ivan rubbed his head. "It may not mean the same thing Norm, but it's the same damn idea. Now could we avoid arguments? I don't need a headache in this body either."

Ninat asked something to Norm in Na'vi and Norm answered back in Na'vi; Jake also started talking to Neytiri quietly, leaving Ivan out of the loop. He looked back and forth between the two couples, both looked happy together. "Jesus, is everyone around falling for the local tail?" He said to himself.

Jake heard the comment and answered. "Yes, and we couldn't be happier." He bumped Neytiri and she elbowed him back calling him something in Na'vi that Ivan couldn't understand, as Jake said that Ivan looked away. "And hopefully, after your accepted into the clan-"

Ivan's head snapped back around and he caught Jake with a stare that could scare the dead. "No" The words were spoken in a tone that sent chills up everyone's spine. He then lowered his head and stared into the fire pit.

Neytiri as Tsahik in training would one day have to interpret the will of Eywa, and that would sometimes mean interpreting people. And although she was nowhere near the skill of her mother, she easily sensed anger behind Ivan's two letter response. The small word held such hatred and anger behind it, it almost scared her. When Jake opened his mouth to ask Ivan what he meant, Neytiri nudged him; silently telling him to drop the subject.

At first the anger she sensed from Ivan offended her, that he might not think Na'vi women as worthy mates. She was about to voice herself when she sensed something else from Ivan, pain. A pain that ran deep, it mixed with the anger and then sorrow. She had never before been able to sense other's feelings, and she had no idea what too do; she would have to speak with her mother later.

Suddenly Ivan rephrased, "I am not here for women, and I have a lot worse to worry about right now."

Suddenly Neytiri could feel nothing from Ivan; it was as if he shut off part of himself. She ran through what just happened in her mind, one thing was for sure, this was a very sore subject for Ivan.

"We aren't going to sit around on our asses all day are we? I thought I was here to turn into one of you sm-guys." Ivan was about to say smurfs. "Are we going to do anything soon?"

"Yes." Jake said standing up. "But I have things I must take care of first, you could tag along with me and meet some of the clan; or I'm sure Norm here would be glad to help you start learning Na'vi."

Ivan chose to start learning the language before trying to meet people, that and he didn't feel like making friends at the moment.

Norm was happy to help, and smart enough not to do anything to make Ivan angry. He could tell from Ivan's last few statements that he was not in a good mood. He started teaching Ivan simple things, first with the traditional Na'vi greeting. Ivan made a remark about how obvious it was that they could 'see' you, especially if your right in front of them; and then Norm had to teach him what the phrase meant.

Ivan didn't pay much attention to the explanation, and he didn't read too much into the whole 'seeing' thing. He learned the words and what they meant. As Norm continued with other words, Ivan committed them to memory. He could easily remember the words; he treated it like a mission brief; like he was memorizing call-signs and objectives. It worked for just simple recalling of words and meanings, the hard part was recalling them and stringing them together into a sentence; or figuring out what others said. But he already knew five languages, he could learn another easy.

Ninat came by to tell Norm something, and once again Ivan swore she was singing when she talked. And he made a comment to Norm about it after Ninat left.

"She isn't singing." Norm said angrily, "That's her normal voice, and I happen to like it. It's nice. If you have a problem, shove it up your ass. Jake already bugs me about it all the time, and he is my friend. But don't you dare start."

After closely examining Norm's body language Ivan gave a small smile, "Good decision."

"What."

"Your right arm tensed, hands slightly curled, brows are slightly creased, you're leaning forward a little, you shifted how you're sitting, I could go on and on...but you were thinking about hitting me." Ivan teased. "Now I respect that you're defending your wife...mate, whatever, it shows you care. But...you take a swing at me, son...me and you are gunna to have problems...not to mention that I will beat your scrawny blue ass up one side this tree and down the other."

Norm didn't doubt Ivan's words or ability to fight, but he had heard enough of Jake's teasing of Ninat's voice; and he wasn't going to start taking it from Ivan. "I am just telling you, don't start. Jake is bad enough and I couldn't hit him even if I wanted. You at least, I could try and fight...I don't think it would be a smart move though."

"It wouldn't, but don't worry, I'm not that much of an ass. You ask me to stop, and guess what...I will stop. Besides I wasn't making fun or teasing, I was pointing out that she sounds like she is singing. It's rather nice actually. Jesus, if your going to pick a fight with a trained killer over a simple comment...your more wound up than me."

"Sorry, it's just. I love her man; and I know if someone ever made comments like that and she heard it, it would hurt her; she is...sensitive. And I'll be dammed if I am going to let anyone hurt her."

"Well that is very noble of you. Can we continue?" Ivan didn't want to hear Norm's gushy confession of love towards his woman.

"Yes, sorry." Norm said before continuing with the Na'vi language.

Ivan guessed he was stuck with Norm for several hours; he mentally berated himself for forgetting to bring a watch. It was going to kill him to not know what time it was. After the supposed several hours, Ivan could probably hold a conversation on par with small child; he would have to wait and see how well the new words stuck with him though.

Eventually Jake rescued Ivan from Norm and explained what he could look forward too in the coming months.

"Being accepted into the clan is going to require several things. First, you have to learn traditions, the language, learn to act like one of them, and so on. Second, you have to be something within the clan, you can't just sit around; everyone is responsible for helping to clan. You can be a hunter, or in your case; you're probably going to want to be a warrior, but everyone hunts around here so you have to learn to do that. Third, is the Uniltaron, which is a dream hunt."

"A dream hunt? You guys do superstitious shit like that?" Ivan laughed.

"Don't laugh, it's real. I have done it, so has Norm; everyone in the clan has. In the dream hunt you find your spirit animal. The next ceremony is in a couple months, you're lucky we haven't already done it this year; I'm not to sure if your allowed to do it on your own."

"Sorry if I don't believe in the fairy-godmother-voodoo-pagan crap. Religion, or belief in spirits and shit, has not been a part of my life."

"Well give it a few months; you start to see things different. Hey lets get out of hometree, go for a run, it's one of the first things I did with Neytiri; you have to learn how to move around in the Jungle."

"Sure." Was Ivan's response, and they left hometree; walking farther and farther into the endless jungle.

"The last thing is the Iknimaya, where you catch your own Ikran. Once you do that you are accepted as a hunter, which is what you must be to become one of the people." Jake started feeling a little competitive at the moment so he did the only thing he could think of, "So Ivan? Up for a little race, I feel the need to run."

"Hooah." Ivan grunted out.

Jake took the lead, swiftly passing through the jungle; jumping fallen trees, flowing through the plants, all nearly silent. All the while Ivan plowed through behind him, he moved better than Norm or even Jake did at first; but he was still moving like he was carrying one-hundred pounds of gear. Plowing through bushes and tree branches, leaving a nice big trail of disturbed plants; and he was loud.

After several minutes of running Ivan huffed out "Don't slow down for me Jake, I'm a big boy, I can handle myself." Ivan hadn't ran this long in this body before, he hadn't been outside Hell's Gate in a long time; and the effects of that showed, but he was never going to say he was tired.

Jake took his offer and ran full speed. He loved running, it was so simple; yet for years on earth he was deprived even of something so simple. He didn't notice he had lost Ivan, he stopped and hoped Ivan would catch up; when he heard a low thud in the distance he started back towards Ivan.

A good distance back Ivan had tripped over a tangled mess of low lying tree roots, he was laying face first in the grass.

_He was face first in mud, his rifle lying in front of him. He grabbed his rifle and scrambled to his feet and continued to run with his squad. It was dark, it was late, he was tired and dirty, but he couldn't stop, he would never stop. He legs wanted to stop working but he powered on, the only thing keeping him going was adrenaline and force of will; but at this point he was blindly following the soldier in front of him._

_Suddenly the man in front threw his hand in the air and signaled for everyone to get down. Ivan slid to a nearby tree and slammed himself against it. He readied his weapon and quickly slowed his breathing; wiping the mud off the rifle as best he could; the particular weapon he had was prone to jamming in dirty conditions._

_"We got gooks 8 o'clock." Ivan heard over his radio. That's when he saw silhouettes moving in the jungle ahead. "Shit...stay down; and pray they don't see us."_

_Ivan pressed himself to the tree as best he could, he knew fighting wasn't smart. He was with five other beaten and tired men, and he was down to two magazines for his rifle. He trained his weapon on the silhouettes in the distance, tough shots at this range in this environment; especially with dark conditions and low ammo. Sweat mixed with the dirt on his face and stung at his eyes, his heart sounded like war drums, his weapon was heavy in his tired arms, his breathing now slow, deep, calm, and absent of the burning sensation. 'Just another god-dammed day' he thought._

_"On our six!" Another voice whispered over the radio._

_Ivan kept his weapon trained on the figures ahead of him, he heard several in his squad turn around but he only glanced over his shoulder. There was movement behind them, "Shit." He said to himself._

_"Gentlemen." He heard over the radio. "The shit is about to hit the fan."_

_"It hit the fan three days ago." Ivan whispered over the radio._

_"Ivan."_

_"Yo." He answered._

_"Ivan."_

_He looked around to find who was calling him, but his teammates were all looking at the approaching figures._

_"Ivan come back too me."_

"Ivan." Jake yelled, and Ivan almost jumped.

Taking in several deep breaths Ivan regained his bearings, he was pressed against a tree; Jake standing nearby.

"You still with me?" Jake asked keeping his distance.

"Y..ya." Ivan stuttered. "Shit."

Jake walked up to him and looked him in the eye. "You were uh, having a-"

"I know, I know." Ivan waved his hand at Jake. "Shit is too familiar out here." He pulled away from the tree, wiping off moss that was stuck to his arm.

"Uhh." Jake ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know anything on Pandora that is remotely familiar to Earth."

Ivan shook his head back and forth trying to force the memories out of his mind. "It's all this green." He motioned to the jungle around them.

"Green?" Jake laughed. "There isn't anywhere on Earth this green, your lucky to see grass back on that hell hole."

"Well one place was close to it." Ivan said with a dry voice.

"Where was that?" Jake asked with one raised eyebrow.

Ivan took in a deep breath, "God-dammed Venezuela."

* * *

Yay, it's longer than the pitiful excuse that last chapter was. I re-wrote this one soooo many times, it isn't funny.  
Ivan's talk at the fire-pit, at first, was on a completely different subject. Then I changed it, then I changed it again.  
Then I re-wrote the whole chapter. Then I re-re-re-wrote it a few hours ago and I finally got something workable, and I like it.

Then I spent 30 minutes praying to the computer gods trying to get my pc to unf{_}ck itself. Wait can I say fuck?

If anyone notices spelling errors, or any of that good stuff, please point it out so i can fix.

Read&Review please.

P.S. If anyone does review. Could u give me your thoughts on the sparing use of the F-bomb in this story...cause Ivan isn't a happy man.  
I want to know how much I can get away with without changing the rating.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to those of you that review, makes me feel like writing this is actually worth it.

* * *

Jake's eyebrows shot up "Venezuela! No shit! You were in that hell-hole too?"

Ivan nodded. "Hell-hole about sums it all up."

A smile appeared on Jake's face, just meeting another person who had been in the conflict made him happy. But the Russian's were not involved in the war, only America; he wondered why Ivan was there.

"What were you doing there?" He asked. "Last I checked the reds weren't involved in that war."

Ivan hoped Jake didn't mean communists by the word 'reds'. "Just more contracts...more killing...more money."

"Contracts? You were a mercenary?" Jake asked while starting to walk again.

Ivan fell in step beside him, "No." he responded. "I am not a mercenary, I am...was a contractor. Mercenary just seems like a..." He paused. "It just seems to portray me and my profession in a bad light."

Jake thought it over, being called a contractor did seem better than being called a mercenary. "So how long were you there?"

"Just about five months."

Jake was there for much longer, but he ran into mercenaries during his tour and wondered if he ever ran into Ivan; one could never know. "Well when were you there? I saw some merc..." Ivan gave a mean look and Jake corrected himself. "Contractors, during my tour."

"I was in country about two weeks before the war started, so the first five months."

_Two weeks?_ Jake thought, "That's when the Independence was sunk."

"Yes it was." Ivan replied, secretly hoping Jake wouldn't think too much into it.

The U.S. Naval destroyer 'Independence' was sunk off the coast by the Venezuelan army, all hands lost; sparking the war with Venezuela. At least, that was the story the world heard, Ivan however knew much different.

"Damn bastards, unprovoked attack on a destroyer; what were they thinking."

Ivan smiled to himself, Jake had just called him a bastard without knowing it; the smile disappeared as he remembered the mission.

* * *

_0000, zero hour. It was not dark because of the time though, the darkness surrounding Ivan and his team was that of the ocean. Ivan clung to the side of a small submersible nicknamed D.O.G. along with the four other men on his team. Two men sat inside near the front of the D.O.G. with two hanging on to handrails on the outside, the fifth man sat in the middle and controlled the machine._

_Ivan was in a wet-suit, the water on Earth was slowly becoming toxic; contact with skin would cause irritation and a rash. They were as deep as the D.O.G. could dive and moving as slow as possible, they would be near impossible to detect on sonar; but caution was necessary. Along with their employers in the U.S. government, they were the only ones that knew of this operation._

_The night vision built into his dive-goggles allowed him to see the small craft he was hanging too, but his surroundings were bathed in darkness._

_Ivan's radio crackled to life as one of his team broke radio silence. "I've never done anything like this before; kinda' exciting isn't it?" _

_"Observe radio silence Loudmouth." Ivan said in a stern tone. No one on his team knew anyone else's name, everyone used call signs._

_Ivan's call sign was Bear, on his team was Loudmouth, Aztec, Tex, and Polak. Most of their nicknames were given to them by the other team members, Loudmouth was a Brit who loved to talk, Aztec was from South America, Tex from Texas, and Polak from Poland. All Ivan knew about his team was they were good soldiers, and where they hailed from._

_"I'm just saying. Never done this before." Loudmouth said._

_"And I'm just saying." Ivan shot back. "Shut the hell up."_

_"The 'hell did I get stuck on this team." Loudmouth mumbled._

_It was near silent for the next thirty minutes, the only sound was a soft hum of the engines and Ivan's breathing. _

_Finally the driver, Aztec, spoke. "All right gringos, we are here." He shut off the engines. "Target is one hundred yards ahead."_

_"Alright, let's get this done." Ivan spoke. "You all know where your charges go, keep your ascent is slow and stay quiet."_

_Ivan pulled himself to the front of the D.O.G. and opened a small compartment holding explosive charges. He took his charges and handed the rest out to his team. Inflating a small device on his suit, he slowly began to rise towards the surface while swimming forward; his team following behind him. _

_It seemed to take a life time, but Ivan could now see the massive form of a ship outlined by moonlight on the water surface. _

_As the massive form became even more massive, Loudmouth opened his mouth. "Bloody 'ell that's a big one."_

_There was a collective "Yes" from the whole team._

_Ivan reached his hands up and he pressed onto the hull of the destroyer. He looked around him to check if his team was planting their charges in the right places, but the night vision had limited range underwater; so he could only hope they remembered what to do. He stopped worrying about his team and started planting his charges. They were small, but they were designed to focus all the blast energy straight up. It would blow through the hull, and multiple decks; each man would plant two charges along the length of the hull, the ship and crew's time above water was coming to an end._

_"Can't believe I'm doing this." Tex spoke for the first time. "Can't believe it."_

_"I know, it's exciting right?" Loudmouth answered. _

_"No it isn't you asshole." Tex shot back._

_"What's your damn problem?"_

_"I'm American you asshole, I have never killed my own country's servicemen before; and here I am about to help start a war." Tex was angry, "How would you feel if you were going to be responsible for thousands of your countrymen being killed?"_

_"Don't really know? Maybe I will ask how you feel in a month." Loudmouth started laughing, no one else joined him. "Besides, you're getting paid right."_

_"Twenty-five million." Polak broke in. "Five each."_

_"Alright cut the chatter." Ivan said. "My charges are set, you shit-heads done yet."_

_Everyone but Loudmouth answered yes. "Loudmouth get your shit together and your job done; or I will leave you here." Ivan was sick of Loudmouth as soon as he met him a few weeks back and now his talking was wasting valuable time._

_Finally all charges were set and armed; everyone began their descent back to the D.O.G. As soon as everyone was back, Aztec started the engines and they made their slow escape from the blast zone. They needed to be several hundred yards away, and that would take a good ten minutes with the D.O.G. running at minimum speed._

_Loudmouth grabbed the detonator from the front of the craft and waved it above him. "So...who wants to do the honors?" When no one answered he continued. "Tex? I bet you would?"_

_"Hey fuck you!" Tex yelled._

_"Shut the hell up everyone!" Ivan yelled louder, while pulling himself forward and snatching the detonator from Loudmouth. "Loudmouth, if you don't shut your mouth, I will disconnect your oxygen line."_

_"You wouldn't." _

_Ivan was at enraged at this point, he couldn't stand the lack of discipline. He reached forward and grabbed the oxygen lines on Loudmouth's SCUBA gear and pulled hard. _

_A startled scream escaped from Loudmouth as water filled his breathing mask and precious air spewed from the disconnected hose in Ivan's hand._

_Everyone on the team started yelling at Ivan all at once. _

_"Reconnect the oxygen you moron!"_

_"He going to die you asshole!"_

_"Ey' man don't kill him because he talks too much!"_

_"Alright Shut the HELL up! Everyone! That's a god damn order." Ivan roared before reconnecting Loudmouths air hose. As Loudmouth struggled to breathe Ivan continued. "Not a damn word from any of you from here on. You talk again you stupid brit, I will __cut__ your oxygen line. Now...I will blow the charges."_

_Loudmouth mumbled and Ivan heard it over the radio. He grabbed the oxygen hose again and tugged; Loudmouth finally took the hint and remained silent. After several more silent minutes in the dark abyss, they were far enough to detonate. _

_Ivan flipped the detonator on and pressed down on the button, "Push to test." He said. "Release to detonate" He released the button and a single ear shattering thud was heard. Shockwaves slammed into the small craft and nearly turned it on its side, everyone was almost shook off of the D.O.G. Switching off the night vision and looking back, the surface of the water was a brilliant orange compared to the darkness below. More explosions followed as the destroyer's ammo magazines detonated, the resulting shock waves almost knocked loose Ivan's grip to the D.O.G. and resulted in curses from Ivan's team._

_The destroyer was already going under the surface, but all anyone could see was the orange hue on the water's surface; Ivan thought of how destruction was beautiful in its own way. It took less than five minutes before the destroyer was completely submerged. No one on the ship had any chance of survival, 100% casualties., and no trace that Ivan and his team were ever there. America now had it's excuse to go to war, they now had the opportunity to go after the last few remaining oil reserves on earth._

_"Another day, another dollar." Ivan said to himself. "Five million American to be exact...and I don't even need the money."

* * *

_

Ivan was still at Jake's side, and Jake was oblivious to Ivan's memories.

_'That is one thing I can never tell him.' _Ivan thought, if he ever told Jake that he was the one that sunk that ship and started that whole war; there was no telling how he would react.

"So Ivan." Jake asked. "Did yo-" He stopped and put his hand out.

Ivan stopped and Jake knelt down and examined something. Ivan was about to ask what was happening when Jake took his bow off his back and notched an arrow.

Turning to Ivan Jake said. "Found a very fresh yerik trail. Can I trust you to keep quiet and out of sight, or should you stay here?"

Ivan gave the one finger salute and Jake smiled before following the trail. To Jake's surprise Ivan could keep quiet, if only when he was being slow; and it was especially impressive because Ivan was wearing boots. Ivan knew how to keep quiet and he knew how to stalk, even if his normal prey was usually men. It came naturally to him, that plus his extensive training.

Five minutes later, Jake signaled for Ivan to stop as he went on ahead. Ivan knelt down and watched as Jake disappeared into the trees, minutes went by and Ivan became unsettled; sitting alone in the Jungle brought back bad memories, and being armed only with a knife made things worse. He scanned his surroundings slowly, his ears twitched at the smallest sounds. His ears irritated him, he found many things about his Avatar weird, one of which was the catlike ears.

He didn't like the situation, even if there was no clear and present danger; every cell in his body told him to draw his knife and go find Jake. Although he avoided people at Hell's Gate and even back on Earth, if he was in the field he hated being alone; there was strength in numbers and only fools work alone. He had been in this exact same situation in Venezuela, shortly before leaving; his team gone, no ammo, lost in the jungle. His fingers twitched as he fought the urge to draw his knife, he repeatedly told himself that everything was fine.

In the distance Ivan heard a thud and an animal bleating, he immediately followed the sound and found Jake kneeling over a wounded yerik, reciting the hunter's prayer as he delivered the killing blow.

Wiping his hunting knife on the grass Jake stood and faced Ivan. "Well since shit rolls down-hill, guess who's carrying it back?"

"Depends on which hill the shits rolling from."

"I killed it, you carry it." Jake reasoned.

"I outrank you."

"Not out here."

"You're going to make an old man carry that all the way back?"

"That body isn't old." Jake smiled and pointed at Ivan. "Get over it, and get ready to move."

He really didn't care to carry it, it was better than some things his superiors made him do in the past. Jake tied the legs of the animal together with some vines and Ivan slung it across his shoulders and followed Jake back to hometree.

After several minutes Jake spoke up again. "So Ivan, you said you were a Spetznaz operator. What made you become a contractor, why not just stay in the service?"

Ivan's step faltered but he continued walking, "I didn't want to quit." He said in a sorrowful tone. "I really didn't, but..."

He paused for several moments thinking of how to explain without bringing back painful memories. "I made a promise to someone...that I wouldn't sign up for another tour...and..." He took another long pause.

"And when they...he...she" Ivan whispered "Died in the Moscow riots." His voice wavered. "I...I felt like I had to keep the promise, it was the right thing too do; so I quit as soon as I could. But I couldn't hack it as a civilian, and I had no family left and no friends."

He took a deep breath and forced bad memories away, "And having their best soldier quit pissed off a lot of my superiors." Ivan managed a small smile but it quickly faded, "So I joined up with a PMC and never looked back. I just...I would appreciate it if you didn't ask about it."

Jake didn't pursue the subject at Ivan's request and Dr. Hart's earlier warning.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, Jake noticed Ivan's mouth twitching and he seemed to be struggling with his emotions; but he decided not to say anything to Ivan, whatever he was thinking about was not pleasant.

Ivan was angry again, but another emotion was even stronger. _'My first damn day out here and what happens? They bring up shit I never think about.'_

If it was thirty years ago he probably would have cried when remembered the single worst memory in his life.

_'I haven't thought about her in years...years...I'm sorry baby.'_

_

* * *

_

This chapter was mostly a flashback, oh' well.

Ivan is actually an old character I made up along time ago, I have a whole history worked out; most of it is not nice.  
I could do a million 'flashbacks' and still have stuff to write.

I have decided on the f-bomb usage. I have seen plenty of other T-rated stories use it,  
just kept to a minimum.

More on Ivan's 'baby' later. Then maybe some splosions, and boolets, and fights..._  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Well I hate myself for taking so long too write, and you probably hate me too. But some good came from this, I changed things in this chapter and it came out better overall. This isn't as long as I hoped it would be but I decided to write instead of sleep today/yesterday and I have orientation today so I decided to put something out...or something...I don't know, I am too tired to think straight.

* * *

Ivan was still walking beside Jake, still carrying the yerik that weighed more with every step. He glanced at Jake, and then at himself; he was dirty and tired, he always ended up dirty and tired. And before he could stop it, bad memories flooded back to him.

_There were no words to describe how he felt, no words for how tired he was, but he kept walking through the endless jungle; Loudmouth, the only other survivor, following right behind him. He was carrying an enemy weapon and had only one magazine left; besides that he had a pistol and one grenade left on his person. Loudmouth...Ivan didn't give a shit what he had. He didn't like that he got paired up with the brit again, but he was slowly warming up to him; put aside his natural tendency to talk, he was a damn fine soldier._

_Every muscle in his body wanted to stop working, and he decided to indulge his aching legs and stop. _

_Leaning against a tree he turned to the brit. "Well..LM...I think I have to admit it."_

_"What's that?" The former SAS soldier responded._

_"I'm going to admit, that we are lost." He let out a shaky laugh._

_Loudmouth sat down, with his back to a tree. "I could have told you that...four bloody days ago."_

_Ivan decided to sit also. "But you didn't. So...this is all your fault." He took several deep breaths while rubbing his tired legs before continuing. "Despite your colossal screw ups, if we make it out of here; we are getting you a new nickname."_

_"Well thanks, forgive me if I'm wrong; but you were the one in charge of this bloody fiasco. At least we ain't being followed anymore...I hope." His exhaustion was clearly announced in his voice._

_"No...It's still your fault LM."_

_After several minutes LM asked, "Anything on the radio?"_

_"Not a thing."_

_"Your boy ever going to show up then?"_

_"Don't worry, he has to come a long way to get here; I am amazed he would even consider coming all this way just to pick us up."_

_"Ya? Well he needs to hurry his arse up. I swear if we get out of here I quit; I got a wife and three children back home. I'm only doing this to put food on the table."_

_Ivan was about to agree when he felt a vibration coming from his right front pocket. Pulling out a small black phone in a military grade protective case, he checked the phone; he had one message instructing him to tune to a certain radio frequency._

_Ivan began fiddling with his radio set and dismissed Loudmouths questions with a grunt and wave of the hand. Soon he had the right frequency._

_"This better be who I think it is." Ivan asked over the radio._

_"Oy! Laddie! It's been to long." An Irish voice responded._

_"Never thought I would be happy to hear your drunken ass Irish." At this comment Ivan smiled, and Loudmouth looked up with hope written on his features._

_"Well if tha's the way you're going to be, I will just turn this bird around."_

_"And that would be a waste of fuel, and that means wasting money; and that is one thing you would never ever do."  
_

_Irish gave one small laugh. "You know me to well. So just tell me where you're at, and we will go from there."_

_Ivan took out his phone again and brought up a Gps locator, after several moments he had his coordinates and he informed Irish. Loudmouth seemed to be giving thanks to god, Ivan thought it probably a good thing to do; he didn't think he could take another day out here._

_"Alright lad, the nearest spot I can land this thing is a clearing three klicks south a'ya."_

_"Rodger, we are Oscar Mike...and thanks, we are on our last leg out here."_

_As Ivan and LM headed south, they both had hope. They survived when eight others died; they survived an entire village chasing them for days. They both let their guard down and began to talk._

_"It...Is a miracle that you had that damn phone with you." Loudmouth said._

_"That thing hasn't left my side in a couple years. It's got everything on it, all my contacts, email, access to bank accounts, pictures, video...a couple thousand songs."_

_Ivan saw the look in the man's eye, "And don't think of anything funny, it's all encrypted and works only for me."_

_"Damn."_

_He chuckled, not the first time someone thought about stealing it. "And, the icing on the cake is that it is self charging. Don't ask me how that shit works but I don't ever have to charge it."_

_"Well that's cool. You said your contacts were on there?"_

_"Yes, that's how I contacted our extraction."_

_"You have Alice's number on there?" Loudmouth's asked in an accusing tone._

_"Alice's? Hell-no. I got hers memorized, she would skin me alive if I left her number on there; encrypted or not. Wait, you know Alice?"_

_"Yes numb nuts, she got me the gig with the Independence, where I had the pleasure of meeting you; and also this gig here, where...low and behold, I run into you again."_

_"Ya, I guess we should probably blame all this on her, after all she didn't give us good int-" Ivan stopped as he heard something behind them._

_Both he and Loudmouth dropped to the ground as the sound came nearer. Footsteps and the clanking of weapons could be heard clearly. _

_Every curse word Ivan knew was running through his head, they were still being followed after all this time; and they had helped by stopping and then not paying attention._

_He glanced at the man lying beside him, the look on his face saying 'get ready to run like hell'._

_Both men lay perfectly still as the footsteps closed in, Ivan's finger went to the trigger of his rifle as he scanned the bushes; silently hoping to avoid a fight._

_Suddenly several figures emerged from the bushes not far from him. They were too close, there was no hiding. Time slowed as he pulled the trigger firing one round, and quickly switching targets and firing again; two shots, two kills. _

_He grabbed Loudmouth and pulled him up and they both started to run as gunfire erupted behind them. Ivan swore every time he head the hiss of a passing bullet, but he concentrated on running. _

_Loudmouth turned around and fired several rounds behind them in hopes of slowing their pursuers, but those several seconds of slowing down were the end of him. No sound escaped his lips as a bullet passed through his torso, he fell backwards gasping for air as Ivan stopped and ran to his side._

_Ivan knew the man was done for, and the look in the wounded man's eyes only confirmed it. Loudmouth only shook his head and drew his pistol, urging Ivan to continue on without him. As more rounds whizzed by Ivan's head, he looked Loudmouth in the eye. He took his last grenade off his vest and pulling the pin and handing it to the dying man. _

_No words were spoken, none needed to be said. Ivan began to run faster than he though possible, he could hear a helicopter in the distance. The bullets stopped for a few moments the jungle became eerily quiet, then yelling broke out behind him. Several pistol shots pierced the yelling followed by automatic gunfire, then to Ivan what seemed a life time; before a single explosion was heard._

Ivan brought himself out of the flashback with a small gasp of air, his hands were trembling and his breathing was fast; he could feel his lungs start to burn, and suddenly he went into a small coughing fit. Jake tried to help but Ivan only pushed him back and assured him that he was alright.

Desperate to avoid anymore painful memories he began to think not of the past, but of the future. If everything went to plan he would become a Na'vi, and live out here in the Jungle; he didn't know how well that was going to work.

The problem was that in his past, he had tried to quit; but like some other veterans, he could not handle civilian life. He didn't know what he would do if he lived with these 'treehuggers' as he called them, he was already on the brink of insanity from sitting around Hell's Gate for the past year.

At least before Jake and the Na'vi kicked the RDA off Pandora, Ivan had things to do. He was Quaritch's right hand man, in fact as Master Sergeant he held just as much power as Quatrich and only answered directly to the Colonel. That fact never sat well with Grace or the other scientists, but he didn't care, he didn't care about anything on this planet. All Pandora was to Ivan, was a safe haven, a place where people from his past couldn't get to him; but they still tried, sending operators posing as RDA to Pandora on the last ISV. He killed both operatives, one in Ivan's own personal quarters.

_There was loud knocking at his door, Ivan groaned miserably as he rolled over and checked the time._

_"What?" He yelled, making sure to sound very pissed off._

_"Master Sergeant, the Colonel needs to see you." A stranger's voice responded through the door._

_Ivan sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking at the clock on his nightstand again. "What the hell does he want at two in the morning?"_

_"I am just here to get you sir."_

_"Alright, alright...dammit, inform the Colonel I will be there soon."_

_When Ivan didn't get a response and didn't hear the man outside walk away, a bad feeling entered his gut. Quaritch was never up this early, and there were other officers he could talk to if he needed something; but the fact the man was still outside his room told Ivan to be careful._

_He quietly opened his nightstand and took out his revolver, and loaded one shell. He stood and walked towards the door revolver in hand, making sure his footsteps were loud enough for the person outside to hear. _

_He stood to the left of his door and gripped the handle, as soon as he turned it the man outside kicked the door open. Ivan heard three shots from a silenced weapon before the man stepped into sight. _

_'Amateur' was the only thought in Ivan's head as he leveled his weapon towards the man's head and pulled the trigger. The fifty-caliber magnum slug slammed into the side of the man's head and proceeded to tear it off, and plaster the opposite wall red with blood and chunks of brain and skull._

It took only a look at the security footage to prove to the Colonel that what Ivan did was in self-defense, that and a small but mostly bull-shit explanation that Ivan quickly came up with. He wasn't about to tell anyone he was a wanted man back on Earth.

Ivan found himself practically outside of hometree. That was one more problem with civilian life, Ivan had nothing but his memories; and they distracted him too much, at least in combat he could focus.

When Jake spoke Ivan snapped back to reality, "Alright you can give that to me." He said while lifting the yerik off of Ivan's back. "Looks like he bled a little on you."

Ivan tried to look at his back, he could see a small amount of red on his jacket and he felt wet, he didn't know if it was his sweat or blood though.

"You didn't bleed it all the way Sully. I thought you knew what you were doing."

"Don't have a hissy fit. You needed to clean up anyway, you smell."

It was then that Ivan realized he did smell, it had been about a day in his estimation since he bathed. "Scent of a man." He snorted.

"New cologne, huh?" Jake smiled. "I wouldn't lay it on so thick in the future though. Listen just head that way." He pointed east, "Follow the trail, there is a lake about five minutes out, you can clean up. The plants that grow right under the water can be used as soap; they can also get the blood off your clothes."

"There shouldn't be anyone there right now, so if you're shy like Norm, you don't have to worry." Jake teased.

Ivan started to walk away, "I didn't know any of you were shy. I mean...have you seen what you're wearing? Jesus, I have seen more clothing in strip clubs." He called back to Jake.

"Should I start charging then?"

"I don't think anyone will pay to see your ugly blue ass Sully." Ivan yelled, Jake said something in response but he was already out of earshot.

And with that, Ivan once again found himself alone, but he felt slightly better knowing that he wasn't too far from hometree. As he walked the trail he took time to make a mental map of it, it was one thing to just blindly follow a trail; if he was going to live the rest of his life here, he was going to know the land like the back of his hand.

His blue hand, it made him unsettle; this wasn't his real body, and it would never be. This body was strange to him, he hated the tail, he hated the cat ears, he hated the glowing spots, and he hated the long hair. The only thing this body had going for him was it was an escape from the everyday pain, other than that, the body gave him nothing.

Sure this body could see colors he couldn't begin to describe, and hear things no human could hear; but it meant nothing to him. He lasted fifty-nine years without needing to see those colors or hear those sounds; almost forty years of fighting in his life.

His human body, _it_ held the scars from countless battles, _it_ had been shot, _it_ had been stabbed, _it_ made it through more pain than any man should ever experience, _its_ face was on the wanted lists, _it_ held the strong Russian accent that people joked about, _it_ had learned five languages, _it_ had been to nearly every country on Earth, _it_ held friends as they died, _it_ had found and lost love, _it_ had created and lost a child, _its_ hands had taken the lives of men women and children. That body sitting in a link pod at Hell's Gate, the body that was being slowly eaten by cancer, was the real him; not this blue freak.

* * *

Ivan hates things, a lot of things. I hate a lot of things too.  
Don't we all hate a lot of things? And I don't think Ivan has been happy  
in my story yet, maybe a smile or something; but happy...no...and things  
are going to get worse. (why do i make these lines shorter than the  
rest?)

Please read&review/bitch/moan/praise/donothing...actually do something.


	8. Chapter 8

School sucks, losing the family farm sucks, being broke sucks. Life sucks...blah, blah, blah. I think I would make a good goth or something. At least I made this chapter normal size and not short like the last one...actually it's my longest so far, yay!

* * *

The water was nice, in the seven years Ivan has been on Pandora, not once had he spent time in a lake. He was surprised that he actually found the lake enjoyable, it was quiet, looked nice, and the water wasn't toxic like on Earth. On Earth no one ever went swimming in anything that wasn't an indoor pool, unless of course they wanted some serious skin irritation; Ivan however had been in the water many times, usually on business, be it sinking a ship, approaching a harbor undetected, or diving in a river to avoid pursuers.

He was sitting at the edge of the lake, he had his clothes back on except for his shirt, the blood stain wouldn't come out so he just put his jacket on. He sat for a while, deciding to do something he never did before, just take some time to his self. The lake was a beautiful deep blue, the light reflecting on the waters surface was like sparkling diamonds. The green of the jungle brought a nice contrast of colors to the scene, one thing was sure to Ivan; there wasn't any place on earth like this.

Ivan stood and slung his shirt over his shoulder while watching some flying creatures overhead. The sky was beginning to darken, he thought it would be best to start heading back to hometree.

"Not a bad place to retire." He mumbled to himself before turning and starting to walk the trail back to hometree.

He instinctively went to check his watch when he remembered he didn't have it. He came to hometree with it, but somewhere between yesterday and today he had lost it; he thought he may have put it in his backpack. If he couldn't find his watch he could always learn to tell the time however the natives do it, which is if they kept track of time.

Even if he wasn't lost in his thoughts, he still would have been hard pressed to hear the silent footsteps approaching him from behind, or the knife being drawn from its sheath.

One second he is thinking of where he could have taken off his watch and the next his braid is being pulled back and a knife is pressed to his throat. There was a sharp pain coming from his braid, and uncomfortable pressure on his neck from the blade.

_'Shit, Shit, SHIT.'_ The words repeated over and over in his mind as he glanced down at the blade at his throat. After several seconds though, he calmed when he found himself not dead; if whoever this was wanted him dead, he would be already.

Training was kicking in, he was about to defend himself when he was surprised by his braid being released and a Na'vi woman walking around to the front of him, knife still held to his throat. They stared at each other in silence, he was calm and she seemed to be searching his eyes for something.

"Well" Ivan broke the silence. "Do it."

He tilted his chin up, "You think it's easy to kill? Go ahead..do it." he challenged the woman.

She only searched his eyes, and Ivan pressed his neck forward slightly. "Do it." He challenged once again.

The woman finally spoke in broken English. "You no afraid?" She kept her gaze on his eyes.

"Everyone has to die at some point." He answered. "You got the drop on me, you win, I lose."

She seemed to be trying to tell if he was lying, he spoke again. "Besides, if you wanted me dead you would have killed me already."

The woman only gave the slightest nod, "And besides." He mocked. "You couldn't hurt me now, no matter how hard you tried. I would have that knife within a second of you trying anything."

The woman gave a low hiss, "You lie."

As soon as the words left her lips, in one single motion, Ivan pulled his neck back, his hands grabbing the side of her knife and her wrist. With nothing more than a slight twist and a push on the knife blade, he relieved the woman of her weapon and he threw his weight forward, ramming his shoulder into the woman sending her stumbling backwards.

Shock and surprise was written all over the Na'vi woman as she regained her balance and took up a defensive stance.

Ivan examining the hunting knife in his hands spoke to the woman, "Calm down, I'm not in the business of killing women...that" he whispered to himself, "that's something I don't do anymore."

He gave several test swipes of the knife before speaking again, "So now it's my turn to ask questions. Who are you? And what the hell possessed you to try this little stunt?"

When the woman didn't answer he sighed, he has been answering questions all day, and when he asks one he doesn't get an answer. Instead the woman just kept in her defensive crouch.

He flipped the knife in his hand and offered it to the woman, "Name?" he asked again.

The woman grabbed her knife and sheathed it; she looked more relaxed but was still on guard. "Tayrha" She said, "You name?"

"Ivan" he responded, examining a small cut on the palm of his hand. His disarm was too sloppy for his tastes, he has been out of practice. "So why did you attack me?"

The woman looked him over, if Na'vi body language was the same as humans, Ivan could tell she was trying to think up a reason.

"You loud, noisy, no keep attention, so I test you. You dead if I predator."

"I would be dead, but did you have to pull a knife on me? If you..." He trailed off, if she hadn't walked into his view when she did; he probably would have killed her.

The woman got closer to him; she seemed to be examining his clothing. "You look surprise at first, then calm. No fear, that good."

"No fear."

"You good fight, very fast. I no see move like before, like warrior."

Ivan gave one small laugh, "I am a warrior. The best damn one you'll ever meet."

"Bah" The woman spat, "Males, all same; think too high of selves."

"I'm not thinking too high about myself, I was just pointing out a fact." He said as the woman approached him.

"Why many clothes?" Tayrha asked while prodding at his jacket, she hooked her fingers through the bullet holes in the fabric of the old jacket.

Internally Ivan sighed in annoyance, this whole day was nothing but him answering questions and remembering bad things.

_'So now I'm a lab rat?' _He thought as she examined him. _'At least she ain't a bad looker, the alien thing is a turn off...or is it? Everything is basically the same.' _

His thoughts brought about his response. "Why so little on you?"

She wore as much as any other Na'vi he had seen, a loincloth and a feather necklace, and another smaller necklace with teeth strung into it, she also had a bow and a weapon holster; but it still was not much. And it didn't cover much either. There were small burn scars on her torso, most hidden by her necklace; and what looked like claw marks on her forearms, probably caused by the same thing that's' teeth was now on her necklace.

_'If I were a lesser man'_ Ivan thought to himself when she moved and her necklace swayed, briefly exposing her breasts, _'this might be distracting.' _

"No need, we be close to Eywa's creation. Also get in way, not good for moving in trees. Also is hot."

When she commented about it being hot out, he started to notice that it was rather uncomfortable wearing the jacket. But he was not about to run around in a loincloth with his ass hanging out; but if the women out here wanted too, he would admire the free show.

"Well" he said "I guess we wear all these because we don't have a lot of trees or plants on our planet, its also dirty, and gets cold...real cold sometimes. Plus they protect us."

"Strange."

"Well I can say the same thing about you not wearing any clothes. If you grow up one way, anything else seems strange."

She seemed to be considering it, Ivan hoped that she could understand what he was saying; her English seemed very limited.

"Yes," she said after a small while, looking down the trail she spoke again. "You go back to..." she paused as she tried to remember the human words for her home. "Hometree?"

"That's where I was going."

With that, Ivan was walking the trail with the female. His gaze drifted down the curve of her back; he caught himself and quickly pushed distracting thoughts from his mind.

_'This place, especially the women, is straight out of some perverts wet-dream.'_ Ivan thought as he watched the swish of the woman's tail. _'Come on Ivan, your above this.'_

His improving mood suddenly went somber the more he thought about women, _'The wife would have a fit if she saw me out here.'_ His thoughts spiraled out of control from there, there was a reason he avoided women. It did nothing but bring back painful memories; memories of a time where things were better, he was fighting for his country instead of for money. A time when he had reason in his life, a reason to fight; he fought so he could come home and see his wife, even if it was only for a weekend, he would kill a thousand men just to spend time with her. But eventually it all came crashing down around him during the Moscow riots; and worst of all, her death was his fault, and he would never live it down.

* * *

Back at hometree Neytiri was speaking to her mother about the emotions she sensed from Ivan. Neytiri was surprised to find that Mo'at was actually proud of her, she had not reached that part of her Tsahik training and being able to sense the feelings of others around her at this early stage was remarkable. But Mo'at had informed her that she would have to learn to control the ability, only using it when it needed to be used.

"It was so strong; it was anger, more anger than I though possible to hold in you. It was directed at women." Neytiri said to her mother in Na'vi.

"Yes, I felt it too last night when he first arrived here. This Ivan's anger is directed more towards himself though. I suspect he has or feels he has done something terrible in his past. Do you know if he has a mate?"

"No, he didn't seem happy to talk about mating though. Do you think he left a mate back in his home?" Neytiri asked.

Mo'at looked deep in thought, "I do not see how a man could leave his mate, the sky people say it takes very long to come here. Have you asked Jake, he might know..." She stopped and closed her eyes; her head facing towards the entrance of hometree, a scowl appeared on her face. "He is here, and he is not happy; I can feel it from here, it is anger, as you described."

With her training as Tsahik, Mo'at could see the energy of all living things through her mind's eye. Without needing to open her eyes, she could see the others around hometree, she could see herself and her daughter; they were all glowing white spirits, she could even see the life flowing from homtree itself. But amid the peaceful energy of nature and the Na'vi, she could see a black cloud. She did not see Ivan's spirit as white, he was surrounded by what looked like black smoke; and it reached out towards others near him, especially the female hunter he was following. It even reached towards herself and Neytiri, and towards all the females within sight.

Another person approached Ivan; Mo'at recognized it as that of Norm Spellman. And suddenly the black cloud surrounding Ivan almost disappeared; no longer spreading around him, it only reached towards Norm.

Mo'at opened her eyes and looked to Neytiri, "His spirit is in pain, and holds much hate. It is also...old; do you know the dreamwalkers age? This body may look young, but the skyperson is usually a different age."

"No, I do not think my Jake knows either." Neytiri responded looking towards Ivan and Norm, who were walking up into a higher level of hometree.

"The hate he holds is not that of youth, it is old and has been with him for a very long time. Very long...as old as me it seems. His spirit, as strange as it is; is that of an elder."

Neytiri was slightly surprised, "An elder? How can that be, he does not seem to be one."

"Remember, he is a skyperson; they are different. Come, we will discuss this later; now it is time to eat." She motioned up to the higher levels of hometree.

* * *

Dinner was different from breakfast, there were many others eating with Ivan now. Ivan was sitting next to Norm, who was next to Ninat and then Neytiri and Jake. Besides the people he knew, there were many others sitting around the large cooking fire.

As he ate, Ivan couldn't help but feel out of place as he looked at his clothes compared too the next to nothing that the Na'vi wore.

He couldn't identify what he was eating other than it was meat. Which didn't matter to him, his Avatar hadn't eaten meat in a long time; there was only fruit at the Avatar compound. It tasted good, better than anything he had eaten in years, or maybe even in his whole life; no preservatives, no chemicals, it was fresh, this would cost a fortune on earth if such a thing still existed.

Ivan glanced at the Na'vi man next to him and when he caught his eye he gave a small nod. Ivan wasn't a fan of crowds, at least there was no one sitting behind him. He told himself over and over to calm down, things were different now, no one was out to get him. But when one lives half of his life being hunted, it's hard to go back to normal. He wasn't even sure normal was the right word, right now he is sitting in a tree; on a alien planet, eating with a group of blue people. Normal for him would be a bar or shitty restaurant and then off to a cheap hotel; if he was lucky and wasn't in the middle of a war zone.

As he was eating he felt a slight stinging in his chest, when he took a breath he let out a small series of coughs. This drew some attention to him but the feeling went away quickly; Norm kept glancing at him to see if he was okay, so he distracted him with small talk.

"This stuff is good." Ivan said motioning to his meal.

"Yes it is, nothing like this back on earth." Norm responded.

"Well, actually there used to; back when I was young, if you had the money you could still get food like this."

"Really?" Norm asked, not sounding convinced.

"Yes sir, I tell you, a lot has changed in my life; not any of it for the good."

"Well that I believe, I'm glad I had the chance to come out here."

"You just saying that because you got yourself hitched?" Ivan said looking past Norm to Ninat.

"Well...yes kind of; but this whole place is great. You can't tell me you would want to go back to earth; it's like one big dirty slum."

"Well, maybe where you lived. Or maybe it's because you didn't have the money to live in the nice places."

"Oh, and you did?"

"Yes I did, or do, depending on if the RDA has gotten a hold of my other bank accounts."

"So what? You some big millionaire secret agent?"

"Actually...ya, I have some serious cash stored up; it's easy when you don't have anything to spend it on."

"I think your just saying that."

"Think what you want, doesn't bother me at all."

They didn't say anything for several minutes before Norm spoke again.

"Your English is really good; I can't even hear an accent or anything. If you hadn't told me, I probably wouldn't have guessed you're from Russia."

Ivan decided to put on a heavy accent "Da, ist very good." He continued in the accent, speaking each word slowly, "Vat? You expect I supposed talk like this?"

"No no." Norm defended, "I'm just saying, your English is great. Your sentence structure is correct, there is no accent and you pronunciation is right; you speak it like you have been speaking it all your life."

"Well I have been pretty much. You should hear my real body talk though, it has the accent; but the Avatar had some hiccup in the DNA, left it with a...neutral accent. But I worked hard with English, because it's used almost everywhere back on earth; learning other languages was almost unnecessary."

"Other languages?" Norm asked.

"Yep, five of them. I only speak one now, and am now trying to learn a sixth."

"Well that's cool. Can I hear some?"

"What?"

"I don't know, it's cool to hear other languages."

Ivan smiled, "Okay" he said before switching to Russian. _"Your mother is a disease ridden five dollar whore, and you're a scrawny little piece of grab-asstic-amphibian-shit that somehow landed a good looking piece of blue ass...I wonder? Does she take it up the ass? Oh wait, you're a science puke; you don't get any, I bet she has to find someone that isn't afraid or incapable of satisfying her."_

Ivan could barely contain laughter as Norm asked what he said, "I couldn't repeat that in English with the current company."

Norm had a smile, but it disappeared, "How did I know you would say something bad."

"How do you know I said something bad? And what defines bad? Your definition and mine are probably way different."

"I know it's something bad because you won't tell me, and I don't think you care what you say so whatever you said was bad. So I don't want to know."

"No you don't." Ivan chuckled to himself. _'I am a bad person sometimes'_

Dinner was over and Ivan was sitting by himself near the edge of the level of hometree he was on. Norm's girl had taken to singing, and soon it was looking like a party. There was dancing, there were drums, there was singing. Jake asked if Ivan danced, and he just said he never has and never will.

Ivan watched a large group of Na'vi dancing, there was no real form, it was just go out and dance however you felt like. He started tapping his foot to the deeper sounding drums, as they sounded a constant steady beat. The shadows cast by the fire pits, made the entire scene look like a nightclub.

* * *

_The heavy bass drums were slowly making Ivan go deaf as he weaved his way through the dancing crowd in the nightclub. The multicolor strobe lights were blinding, and disorientating. Ivan could never figure out how people could like places like this. The music sucked, it was extremely crowded, and usually insanely hard to get into._

_He kept his eyes locked on the manager's booth, overlooking the main dance floor; the windows were tinted, and a guard stood outside. He slowly pushed through to the stairs leading to the VIP section on the second floor._

_A dancing man bumped him and Ivan shoved him hard, the man started yelling and Ivan gave him the finger as he walked up the stairs. _

_A man in a suit stopped him at the top of the stairs; Ivan almost had to yell over the sound of the music, "I'm here to see Mr. Rascolov."_

_The guard stared at him for a second before motioning him on. As he walked through the VIP section towards the managers booth, he drew a lot of looks from the patrons; no doubt due to the scars on his chin, and he was out of dress for the occasion. Everyone on the second floor was wearing suits; Ivan was only in a cheap jacket._

_When he got to the door to the manager's booth he was stopped again by another guard, "You Petrovich?" The guard asked._

_"Yes."_

_"You carrying?"_

_Ivan took out a pistol from under his jacket and handed it to the man. "You'll have to wait; the boss is with an associate right now."_

_Ivan took a seat, and waited. For ten minutes he sat and slowly went deaf listening to the insanely loud bass and multitude of other things that could barely be called musical instruments, to Ivan the techno music sounded like a dying computer._

_Finally the door opened and two men came out dragging another man that looked like he had been shot; taking him out a back door. The guard motioned to Ivan, and he walked inside._

_When the door was closed behind him, the outside sounds disappeared, instead replaced by classical music. The room was well furnished a large desk in the middle, with a man in an expensive suit leaning against it, his back to Ivan._

_The man set a pistol down on the table and turned around, "Ivan!" The man exclaimed, walking over to him and embracing him. "It's been to long."_

_Ivan gave the man a pat on the back, "It has Dimitri, it has."_

_"How long has it been?" Dimitri asked, "Drink?" He offered picking up a bottle from his desk._

_"No. It's been about eleven years since I seen you." Ivan said taking a seat in front of the desk. "You seem much better off than before, infect everyone does; except for me."_

_Dimitri sat down behind his desk, in an equally large chair, "Yes, Things changed after the riots. I have heard a lot about you."  
_

_"What have you heard?" _

_"I have heard you have Interpol all over your ass, and bounty hunters, and an entire pmc looking for you."_

_"You might have heard right."_

_Dimitri leaned back and sniffed, "I can help. I can help all this go away."_

_"How's that?" Ivan leaned forward._

_"I have ways, but I need you to do some work for me."_

_"Such as?" Ivan asked with a raised brow, he knew what was coming._

_"I need a competitor...taken care of."_

_"Of course, all I am good for is killing." Ivan flung his arms out to his side and slang back in his chair._

_"Damn right you are, I know you were with Spetsnaz-GRU; and I know you're the best. I need someone important gone, real soon. If you do this, I can make life easy for you; get you a spot in my organization and everything."_

_"You'd do all that, for little old me? Just for killing a man?" Ivan played along._

_"Hey, friends since high school; I help out my friends. Especially if they help me out; just take care of one person, I will pay fifty large for the contract, plus I will help you out with that Interpol problem, and will see about getting you a regular gig around here."_

_"But there's a catch, always a catch."  
_

_Dimitri pulled a drawer out and slid a picture to Ivan, Ivan took it and gave a sideways grin when he saw who his target was._

_"You want me to kill Joseph?" He chuckled "As in, my best friend Joseph; as in your old friend Joseph?"_

_"No, I want you to kill Joseph, my main competitor."_

_"So, now the question is raised," Ivan sighed and leaned back, "Can you put a price on friendship?"_

_"Listen, I know you and him used to run in a gang together..."  
_

_"You did too."_

_"I know, and I also know he served with you for two years in the army. But he has been causing me too many problems; I can only tolerate so much...friendly competition. Get rid of him, and I will take care of all the problems you got yourself into...Interpol, the bounty hunters, those mercenary bastards; I will set you for life." Dimitri leaned all the way back in his chair, and folded his hands behind his head._

_Ivan pulled a cigarette out from his jacket and lit it, standing he blew out a puff of smoke with a long sigh, it would be nice to live a normal life again; but what was Rascolov going to do about his problems, this man was always a liar._

_"I guess you can put a price on friendship." He said glancing at the pistol on the man's desk.  
_

_"Then we have a deal?" Dimitri smiled._

_"No." Ivan replied simply._

_"What?" Dimitri said, anger flashing in his voice, "What do you mean?"_

_"We are old friends D." Ivan said, "But..." _

_He grabbed Dimitri's pistol off his desk and leveled it straight at him. "Joseph already came to me and asked, he doesn't offer anything like you do; because in reality, you can't do shit to help me. I'm not interested in being part of the mob; I'm only back in Moscow to take a small break, then it's right back out into the fighting."_

_"How much is he paying you? I can double it." Dimitri asked, panic showing in his voice._

_"Like I said, can't put a price on friendship...oh, and Joseph says hello." _

_"You fucking pr-" Rascolov managed to get out before a bullet smashed through his skull sending him tumbling backwards in his chair._

_The door flew open and the doorman ran in, Ivan turned and put one round in his head. He ducked right as several more guards opened fire from outside; stepping back in the doorway he put two rounds into the approaching guard. Ivan ducked to the left of the door when automatic gunfire erupted. When the last guard charged in, he grabbed the man's firearm and flipped him on his back. The slide on Ivan's pistol locked back when he fired his last round into the man's head._

_Stepping outside, the music was still raging and people still dancing; no one heard the gunshots over the music. He stepped over to the doorman with the nice new head wound and retrieved his pistol, "Thanks." He said before walking off._

_

* * *

_

Everything was dying down, people were going to their hammocks to sleep; Ivan decided it would be as good a time as any. Besides Max was going to throw a fit and lecture him about staying linked up too long in his condition, and he didn't want to hear any of it.

Before he lay down to break the link he rifled through his backpack, looking for his watch. He pulled out everything and couldn't find it, but what he did find was interesting. In a small pocket he hadn't noticed, he found four packs of cigarettes and a lighter; he was almost tempted to smoke one, he hadn't had one in a long time. But he decided against it, no need giving this body lung cancer also.

He clumsily dropped down into his hammock and closed his eyes, like going to sleep; it didn't take long before the link broke.

There he was, back in the real world; in his real body. He took in one breath, and it felt like his lungs were full of broken glass. He couldn't even get a full breath anymore; his whole body was stiff as he moaned as he pushed open the link module.

"Finally." Max said from behind the controls in the middle of the room. "Have fun?"

Ivan just grunted and walked out of the room, he lacked the proper words to describe how he felt, and didn't feel like talking.

"Alright..." Max called, "Just trying to talk."

Ivan almost couldn't bring himself to eat, he had just eaten; that was one of the problems with having two bodies. There were only several people in the mess hall, a group of soldiers sitting at a far table, and Jim, the only cook that stayed on Pandora; Jim always said he was a soldier, but to Ivan he was just a cook.

After idle but brief conversation with the cook Ivan was back at his quarters. He set his alarm to go off an hour before sunrise; he would have to start waking even earlier than he did already. He didn't want to sleep, every time he did, his dreams took him back to war; but he was tired, so he laid down and closed his eyes.

* * *

"So." Maxed yawned, "How was he." He asked over his comms set.

"He seemed to space out a lot." Jakes voice responded over the communicator. "Maybe four or five times he had flashbacks, if what Dr. Hart told me was the right things to look for. Other than that he answered questions asked to him."

Dr. Hart broke in, "He actually answered questions?"

"Well he seemed fed up with it by the end of the day."

"I'm surprised that he answered anything at all. What did he tell you?"

"Uhh, things we already pretty much know. He did say he was Special Forces, and said he quit because someone died, he sounded pretty bummed when he talked about it."

Dr. Hart chewed on one fingernail for a second, thinking back, "This person he quit for, was it a woman?"

"I think he said it was. Women are also a sore subject. Why?"

"Once before, a few years back during a therapy session he mentioned a woman; I'm just trying to piece together things here."

"Well feel free to do that, it is late; I think we all need to get to sleep. Max, Dr. Hart."

"Alright, bye Jake." Max said before shutting off the communicator.

"Well we don't know more than we knew before." Hart said,

"We know he is Special Forces, we didn't know that." Max said,

"Well we guessed that he was, we really don't know anything new."

"Ya, well Jake had the right idea, I'm going to sleep."

"See you tomorrow."

* * *

Jake was lying in his hammock with Neytiri curled up against him, being clan leader meant they had their own alcove that afforded them a measure of privacy; it was nice to have their own personal space.

"What do you think?" Jake asked Neytiri, turning and placing a light kiss on her forehead. "About Ivan."

Neytiri let out an angry huff, "Stop thinking about him, you can think of him tomorrow."

"I'm just asking."

A smile crept across Neytiri's face as she placed light kisses along his shoulder, "There should be only one your thinking of right now."

"Oh? And who is that?" Jake asked,

She rolled on top of him and pressed her lip to his,

"Me." she said breaking the kiss.

Jake gave his lopsided grin that made Neytiri all giddy inside, "You have my attention." He said while moving his hands to her hips.

They joined together that night, like many other nights the past month. Neytiri had been more and more aggressive as of late, but Jake wasn't going to complain; he was more than happy to oblige her.

* * *

Well once again the chapter doesn't go as planned and I end up making everything up. Every chapter  
I have wrote so far, is completely different from how I planned it; but I guess its working out.

At least I updated, I didn't think I would ever have the time between school, helping family move, packing for moving myself, helping friends move stuff..  
I think the only thing I am good for is manual labor...that's not fun.

Well whatever, please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Alright,** 8am to 9pm school days...WTF!** Some grade-A bullshit I am going through right now. I had/have no time to write, its 2 in the morning and I decided to put up what I have right now.

This is a dream, I wanted too do too sort of flesh out Ivan and his wife. If I didn't readers would go, he had a wife, she died...boohoo. Sorry if you want some present day things with Ivan and the Na'vi, I am already working on the next chapter, and future chapters...it's just hard to find time to sit down and write.

_

* * *

_

_Right now, there was a small taxi speeding dangerously through Moscow streets; Ivan, in the back seat, was about to throw up all over his dress uniform. The taxi took another sharp turn, speeding into the oncoming lane of traffic to pass three cars before whipping back onto the correct side of the road._

_The driver of the taxi was letting out a constant stream of curses, and insults as he flew by other drivers. When Ivan told the driver to hurry, he brought a whole new meaning to the word._

_The taxi slipped into the middle of the road to pass a car, an oncoming car blew its horn and swerved to avoid them, before they slipped back into the correct lane._

_Ivan, not wearing a seatbelt, was constantly being thrown around the back seat._

_After another sharp turn and being once again slammed into the door Ivan spoke up, "I told you to hurry, but Jesus Christ don't get us killed."_

_The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror and scoffed, "You're not the only one who has to work his ass off for a shitty paycheck, soldier boy._

"_You might be right, but I haven't gone through the shit I have, just to die in a madman's taxi this close to home."_

_The man suddenly slammed on the breaks and the tires screeched as the car came to a sudden stop, Ivan was thrown forward while yelling at the man._

_The driver turned around in his seat, "This is as close as we can get soldier boy, road's being repaved or something. Now come on, pay up and get the hell out of my car."_

_Ivan paid the man and as soon as he stepped out of the car, it took off speeding down the road looking for another passenger._

_As he stood there on the sidewalk he couldn't help but laugh, the city was growing crazier every time he came back._

_Taking a deep breath he caught a strange taste in the air, looking up at the sky there was more brown mixed with the blue than last time he was here. Even in the nicer parts of the city, pollution was slowly starting to creep in._

_He slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and lit a cigarette as he started walking down the street. Despite the increasing pollution, this was one of the nicer cities on Earth; much better than Beijing, where he was a day earlier. _

_Beijing had brought doubt to Ivan, he was ordered to kill a man; and he did, but the more he thought about it the more he questioned it. His target wasn't the normal type, this man, whoever he was, looked like a normal person. The memory of his target backed into a dead end alley, crying and pleading for his life, wouldn't leave Ivan's mind; this is turn made him think about every life he had ever taken. _

_It made him sick to his stomach to think that he might be killing innocent people. If it was in the heat of battle, killing was easy, it was a fight and it was kill or be killed. But lately, he and his team had been running a lot of assassination operations; and the line between friend and foe was starting to blur, the 'enemy' isn't wearing a uniform, usually wasn't engaged in a fight, and most of the time didn't know that Ivan and his team was there. The target looks like every other person in the city; the man in Beijing was walking from a market and was carrying groceries when Ivan cornered him, he also had a wedding ring on, he didn't look like the enemy, Ivan could even fit that description at certain times._

_But there were general 'rules' for Special Forces soldiers, one of which was not to think. Don't question the orders, just follow them, when the soldier starts to wonder why he is being asked to kill, it slowly starts him on a downward spiral. If a soldier questions why he is being ordered to kill someone, and he hesitates, even for a split second, the target might get away or the soldier might be killed. There is no room for doubt on the battlefield; Ivan knew this, and there was no doubt while he was in the field, but now he is home and he is left to question, why? _

_For months now he had been running operations that, officially, were not happening, killing people just because he was told too. But who were these people, if he asked his team leader, Captain Vyacheslav, he would be told it's on a need-to-know basis and apparently he didn't need to know whose life he is taking._

_Although Ivan was proud to be what he is, sometimes he hated his job; things were simple when he was just a grunt, no politics, no doubts, no questions, and none of the running around and stabbing people in the back. Maybe he should have become an officer like his father wanted. He quickly threw that idea out, he would never become an officer just to spite his father; that and he wasn't a man for command, he was a fighter, just point him at the enemy and let him loose._

_He glanced at construction workers repaving the street he was walking along; the thought crossed his mind that one day the target could be one of them. It could even be one of his few friends, his father, his Captain, it could be anyone, it could be himself, it could even be his wife._

_That thought made his heart stop for a second, the thought of anything happening to her made him sick. She was the only thing he had left besides his job; if he didn't have her he had nothing. She gave him something to look forward to, something to fight for, something to love, and gave him a shred of normalcy in his life. He might put on the tough guy facade when he was out in the field, act like he didn't care, but deep down he did. That fact got him in trouble, when his Captain found out he was married he went ballistic. Getting married wasn't forbidden, but to Captain Vyacheslav it was a major sign of weakness and could distract a soldier in the field. Points were argued, arguments started, and several fights had almost broken out between him and his commanding officer over the simple subject of his wife. _

_Ivan respected his Captain, and would follow him anywhere, he was a damn good leader; but he didn't like him anymore, the man wouldn't drop the subject, and there were things he said that made Ivan's blood boil. _

_He stopped in front of a tall, nice looking, apartment building, he felt his stomach flutter for a second, this was home and he had been gone for to long. He pulled open one of the large glass doors but before he could walk into the lobby he heard someone inside, "No smoking, put that thing out."_

_Ivan glanced down at the cigarette in his mouth, "Since when?" He said._

_A security guard walked into view, "Since I said so."_

_Ivan let out a short chuckle before drawing one last drag and flicking the cigarette behind him; he stepped inside and let out a puff of smoke in the guard's face._

_"Happy?" Ivan asked._

_"We don't want smart asses here." The guard said, attempting to look tough behind his badge and uniform._

_"Is that so?"_

_"You should take your ass back outside before I make you, its residents only and I haven't seen you here before." The man said crossing his arms over his chest._

_"That's because last time I was here, there was a different rent-a-cop here." He looked the man over, "And he was in better shape."_

_Before things could escalate the receptionist at the other end of the lobby broke in, "Alright break it up boys." As Ivan walked over she continued, "He is right, it's residents only; you can't get in unless you have an apartment or are with someone who does."_

_"Things changed since I was last here. Anyway, I'm here to see Anna Petrovich, room 212."_

_"Anna? I'm friends with her, I don't remember her expecting anyone; at least she hasn't said anything."_

_"This unannounced; is she here?" He wanted desperately too stop talking and go see her._

_"No, and unless I know who you are I can't tell you where she is or let you go to her apartment. You know she is married right? To a soldier, I hope you're not trying to steal her away or anything." The receptionist said, clueless to whom she was talking too._

_He couldn't help but smile and laugh to himself for a second, "I know she's married" He stepped back and patted his uniform, "to a soldier."_

_She looked confused for several seconds before it dawned on her, "Oh, my god! You're him!"_

_"Name's Ivan." He said and offered her his hand._

_"She talks and talks about you, but no one has ever met you. You are always gone; some of us were starting to think you don't exist."_

_"I sure hope I exist." He said patting himself, "And I hope she only says good things about me."_

_"She does, and shame on you!" She swatted at him, "Leaving that poor girl all alone, you don't know how hard it is on her."_

_"I know." He said in a somber tone, "Do you know where she is?"_

_"No, why don't you call her?" _

_"I don't have a phone."_

_"Well here," the receptionist picked up a phone from behind the counter, "You can call her."_

_"Will you?" Ivan asked, "This is sort of a surprise. Just tell here to come here."_

_"Oh...okay." she said before picking up the phone and making the call._

_While she was talking to his wife, he looked around the lobby; things were always changed every time he came back. It was a little high brow for his tastes but over half his paycheck went to making sure Anna lived here, this part of the city had lower crime rates and was overall a nicer place to live, and if anything, more expensive._

"_Alright, she is coming. I didn't tell her you were here, just that it's important she get down here." She said putting the phone down._

"_How long?"_

_She shrugged, "Maybe thirty minutes."_

_He let out a weary sigh, more waiting; he wondered why she just couldn't be home. _

_Eyeing some candy on the receptionist's desk, he asked for some; he needed something to cover his smoking, Anna hated it when he smoked. And he didn't care for smoking either, but it was the only thing that calmed his nerves, aside from seeing her._

_He sat down in the chairs near the entrance, sitting his duffel bag beside him; now he had to wait, it was a cruel, cruel, world._

_He sat and thought what he would do when she walked in, get up as soon as she comes in? Wait for her to get to the receptionist and surprise her?_

_The door opened, and Ivan sat up his hopes high; but his heart sank when it wasn't his wife who walked in. "That's not fair." He said to himself._

_As he sat his thoughts slowly drifted back to Beijing, he couldn't keep it out of his head; he had also started having nightmares. He feared that maybe he wasn't cut out for this line of work, even if he was good at it, after nine years was he starting too crack?_

_Each second felt like an hour, and each minute a day; he was a patient man, but this was wearing it thin._

_He started to drum his fingers to the constant tick of the large decorative clock on the wall, as he watched the hands they seemed to move slower and slower. _

_Suddenly he realized he was hungry, maybe he could take Anna to a nice dinner, something fancy and expensive, with good food and all that kind of thing. Problem, money wise he didn't have much with him; but he remembered a certain well connected friend owing him a favor, might be time to call it in._

_Before he finished the thought, the doors opened and a blonde woman walked in, it was her. It took everything he had in him to keep quiet; she walked right by him towards the receptionist, he silently stood and took a few steps towards her._

_His wife asked the woman at the desk why it was so important she come here, the woman didn't answer back, only glancing at Ivan._

_He took half a breath and let it out in a silent laugh when noticed his wife was carrying a bag full of clothes._

_Taking another breath he called out, "So is that what you're spending all my money on?"_

_She stopped for a second; looking back towards him she did a double take. _

_When she saw who was standing behind her, she cried out, "Ivan!"_

_Neither of them could hold back smiles as she dropped her bags and ran to him. She jumped into his arms as they embraced; their lips sought each other as came into a kiss right in the middle of the lobby. The kiss seemed to last forever, Anna didn't care if he had been smoking, they were back together now. All of Ivan's worries, fears, stress, everything, disappeared during that moment._

_The receptionist gave a joyful squeal and bounced in her seat as the two reunited._

_When they broke the kiss Anna remained in his embrace, tears stung at her eyes as she rested her head against his chest. _

_"Ivan," She said into his chest, "I was so afraid, so worried, it had been so long, I thought...I thought...you had been hurt." Her voice dropped to a sorrowful whisper, "Or...killed."_

_"Shh, don't ever think things like that." He soothed, "As long as you are here, I will always come home. No one on this planet is capable of taking me away from you." He avoided saying, dying or killing; those words only served to worry her._

_The security guard scoffed at the two before walking outside. Anger swelled up in Ivan's chest, God help the man that ruins this moment for Ivan; but he quickly calmed, squeezing Anna a little tighter._

_"Come on, let's go to the apartment." He said; they grabbed their belongings and quickly took the elevator up to their floor. _

_As soon as they were in their apartment they were back in each others arms, she locked into another kiss with him while tugging at his uniform._

_"Hold on." He managed to say between a kiss, pushing back a slight amount he continued. "Before we get to the naughty stuff, do you want to go out for dinner?"_

_"Dinner can wait." She tried to kiss him again._

_"I need to know now so I can call a friend."_

_She let out an angry moan and dropped her head against his chest, "Fine." She said in annoyed tone._

_"Don't worry, there is plenty of time for fun; do you have your phone?"_

_He could tell she was growing annoyed, but he needed to call now or they might not be able to get seats at where he was planning to go._

_He placed a kiss on her forehead as he tried to remember the number, "I love you." He whispered._

_"I love you too, and you need to hurry up and prove it." Annoyance was clearly audible in her voice._

_"Some one is eager." He teased as he dialed the phone._

_"It's been what? Seven months, I have needs, o' husband of mine." _

_"Patience." He said with a smile as her hands trailed down his back._

_The phone was ringing and he hoped his friend would pick up, he didn't know which need was stronger, the need to eat or the need to fulfill his wife's 'needs'. She was starting to unbutton his uniform, and he offered no more protest, it seemed dinner was going to wait._

_Suddenly he heard the phone pick up, "Joseph." He said, but from the other end he heard yelling._

_When he recognized the voice on the other end of the line it wasn't Joseph's, "Dimitri?" He asked._

_"Who the hell is this?" The voice asked._

_"This is Ivan where is Joseph?"_

_He heard more yelling in the back ground and the sound of the phone being tossed in the air. _

_After more commotion his friend's voice was heard. "Who is this?"_

_"It's your old buddy Ivan."_

_"Ivan, I don-wait, Ivan! Holy hell it's been forever!" Joseph exclaimed._

_"It has, listen, about that favor you owe me."_

_"What favor?" The man interrupted._

_"The favor for pulling your sorry ass to the evac heli and getting myself shot in the process about four years ago, in some shit-hole down South."_

_There was a pause, "Oh, ya; I didn't know you were wounded during that."_

_"It was right after your bird took off; I had to wait thirty minutes for the next chopper too show up. Listen, I want to take Anna out for a nice dinner or something; can you help out with that?"_

_"Of course my friend, you know that restaurant down on...shit...it's near you actually."_

_"Uhh, I don't know."_

_"It's six streets down from you, big fancy place, it's got big lights and tits hanging all over the place, you can't miss it."_

_"You mean that place for the rich folk?"_

_"Yes. I will call them up, get whatever you want it is on the house."_

_"You can do that?"_

_"I can do a lot of things, go have a nice time with your girl; I have to deal with this shit-head."_

_"Dimitri?" He asked before Joseph hung up._

_"Yes, the lying, cheating, whore of a man has been running a lot of side jobs. Getting into trouble."_

_"All the usual?"_

_"Worse, he starting to piss off the bosses, he is getting out of control. Listen I have to go." Ivan heard more shouting over the phone, before he could say bye Joseph hung up._

_When he looked to his wife, he found his jacket unbuttoned and she was working on his belt._

_"Someone is desperate." He teased again, "I got us dinner at that fancy place not far from here."_

_"When?"_

_"Whenever."_

_"Good." She said before leading him to the bedroom._

_After a nice long lovemaking session, they went to dinner. The food was the best thing they had probably ever eaten. The restaurant had real steaks, none of the artificial things becoming more and more common. They both wondered where they were getting supplied; meat was in high demand and had an ever decreasing supply. What they had just eaten was probably the most expensive thing they would ever eat, and they got it for free._

_Somewhere along the way, Anna convinced Ivan to go and visit his father; which was the last thing he wanted to do, he hadn't seen him in longer than he had seen her. Ivan didn't like his father, the only love he held for him was a simple 'he is my father' type of love. Everything else was gone, he had no respect for the man and he even stopped calling him dad or father, instead using his name._

_Ivan and his wife were approaching his father's apartment, Ivan continued to argue. "I don't want to see him."_

_"You need to, he is your father. And if he calls me one more time...he needs to see you, you are all he has left."_

_"He doesn't want to see me; he wants to see my brother." Ivan stopped her, "I can tell you how this will happen."_

_"Quit wasting time." She tried to start walking again but he stopped her._

_"Indulge me. Now, he will answer the door, drunk off his ass. He will say something about my uniform, and then go on about how I should be more like my brother; then a lot of shit about becoming an officer because being a grunt is for peasants. Then he will tell me, that you and I need to have kids because the great motherland needs more good officers."_

_"I wouldn't mind kids." She said shyly._

_"I wouldn't either, just...not now."_

_"Then when?"_

_"I don't know. Come on lets get this over with." He said before walking to his father's apartment door._

_He looked around, and inside he mocked his father. The great Colonel Petrovich, fearless leader, winner of many medals and high honors; living in this ratty-ass apartment, drunk, alone, wallowing in self pity and guilt. _

_Reluctantly he knocked on the door, when there was no response he knocked harder. _

_From the other side of the door came slow and slurred words, "Stop, I fucking hear you...assholes."_

_"Drunk." Ivan said the Anna. Several small crashes were heard inside and the clanking of empty bottles was heard._

_The door was opened by a large built man in his late fifties, his grey hair and wrinkles made him look old and worn. He was wearing only boxers and a dirty shirt, he looked like a bum._

_"Who?" Ivan's father said, trying to stand up straight. There was a vodka bottle in his hand, "Ivan!" He slurred out when he recognized his son._

_"Vladimir." Ivan responded dryly, trying not to make eye contact._

_"What is this?" His father asked stepping forward and grabbing his uniform. "They have new uniforms?"_

_"No." This was starting to go just how Ivan said it would._

_"Oh, I forget, you're not an officer." He turned back around and stumbled into his apartment. "Such a waste, you should be more like your brother; like me! It would have made your mother proud if you were an officer."_

_"Make her proud, or you?" Ivan challenged._

_"Both of us, every male in this family has been an officer for-."_

_"I know," Ivan interrupted, "For as long as records exist."_

_"Back to the great wars!" His father shouted, opening another bottle of vodka. The entire room was full of empty ones. Ivan wouldn't be surprised to find only drink and no food._

_"Well I don't want to be an officer."_

_"And why not? Your brother w-"_

_"I'm not my brother, stop fucking talking about him you piece of shit."_

_"Don't talk to me like that." His father stepped towards him, trying to stand up straight. "He was a good man, if only you were like him."_

_"I'm not, and I am glad I am not; saved me from getting myself killed because of you."_

_Ivan could almost feel the anger flare up around his father, an angry scowl crossed his face. "Don't you say a thing."_

_"What? You're a washed up old drunk, who sent one of his own sons to die? You talk about honor and duty, how you are a great hero; some hero, kills his son and hates the other. Who drinks himself to sleep every night. If only mother could see you."_

_His father was drunk, angry, and a fighter, not a good combination. He yelled out and hurled a bottle towards Ivan; it was off course and heading straight towards Anna. At the last second Ivan moved in front of the projectile and is smacked against his back._

_Now there were two angry soldiers in a confined space; a flurry of verbal insults the likes of which the world had never seen was being unleashed in that apartment. Luckily before a fight could break out, Anna stepped between them and pleaded with Ivan to leave. _

_He didn't say a word as he left, not a word as they left the building, not a word as they walked home. He was done with that man; it had literally ruined his day when he saw him. Vladimir would drink himself to death one day and Ivan wouldn't care one bit when he died._

_He still hadn't said one word when he laid down in bed with Anna, only when she curled up beside him did he speak._

_"I can't ever lose you." He said, turning to accompany her. "I don't want to end up like him."_

_"Nothing will happen to me, it's you we should worry about. When Ivan? When will you quit? You leave for months and months and every time I fear the worst."_

_"I don't know, this is my job; I'm not good at anything else. I don't like what I do, but I have nothing else."_

_"You could find a normal job, please; someday you have to stop all this...for me?"_

_He admired her for several moments before kissing her briefly, "Someday." He whispered, "For you."_

_Slowly she fell asleep in his arms, he couldn't sleep; it was hard to lately, he started having nightmares. But for the moment he was calm, and happy; with her warm body against his, her slow breathing, he wished he could stay like this forever._

_A soft beeping noise came from nowhere, slowly it grew louder and louder; Anna moaned in protest as Ivan tried to figure out what the noise could be coming from. It was loud now; Anna was completely woken up now, also looking for the source of the sound. It sounded like an alarm clock._

An alarm clock! Suddenly he was awake, alone in his bunk at Hell's Gate; his alarm he had set last night was steadily beeping. He let out an angry yell and slapped the clock sitting on his nightstand, sending it crashing to the floor. He sat up and put his head in his hands, he was ready to cry; he wished he could die during those dreams, die happy, not alone, and just stay stuck in the dream forever. The emptiness he felt inside of him tore him apart, he looked down at the empty bottles still lying on the floor; he was alone, angry, he had turned to drink...just like his father.

* * *

I take way too long to update this...and I feel bad because  
this chapter is something I wanted to write but I had to cut sooo much  
or I would have never gotten it done. I had the dinner scene all written out, I had  
more dialoge between Anna and Ivan, and even between him and his father. But I didn't  
have the time to work it in...really sux.

There should be two more things like this, dealing with Ivan and his wife. Maybe more,  
I did come up with a lot of new things too add to the Na'vi side of things during school  
because this is totally what I should be focusing on during Economics class.

Anyway, please Review! Please? Encourages me to write.  
Even if it's a pointless review, I like them...makes me all happy inside  
or it can be constructive criticism, just criticism, ideas, conspiracies, spam  
general randomness; it's all good.

P.S. SHIT! I have a test tomor-today! I go to sleep now, I get 5 1/2 hours sleep, then take test  
during my 13 hour school day.

P.S.S. Review!


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for not updating in like two months. But when my computer decided to eat my work three times in a row, it discouraged me. Then my computer bluescreens atleast once a day; working is hard. But I got this chapter out, it's my biggest so far.**

**Also changed the rating of this story to 'M' because of things in later chapters; and that Ivan swears enough by himself to warrant the rating.**

* * *

It wasn't the alarm clocks fault; after all he had set the alarm last night. But that didn't stop Ivan; his defenseless alarm clock was now lying broken on the floor. He had a track record for breaking equipment, whether it be weapons, computers, medical equipment, his own belongings, even his Avatar was subject to damage while he was around.

As he performed his morning routine he tried to hold on to the fading memories from his dream. He tried to remember that moment of happiness when he reunited with his wife, that moment when only she mattered. But the dream slowly faded from memory; he didn't know which was worse, his constant nightmares, or dreams like this one that made him happy only to have that happiness destroyed when he awoke.

He tried not to think of Anna as he walked to the mess hall, he tried to forget her; but that hurt worse than remembering. He loved her more than anything and now he tried to pretend she didn't exist; he didn't know what to do anymore, but whatever he did, it always hurt. He should have been able to get over her, to move on, but he never could; it had been so long, but he still couldn't get over her.

Her death was hard in of itself, but the fact that he could have stopped it is what weighed on him so heavily. He would give anything to repeat that day over, if he could exchange his life for hers he would without a second's hesitation. If he had just stayed with her like she asked him, but no, he had a job to do; he had to go help during the riots.

He wanted to scream, fuck his job, and fuck his duty; he was going to retire that month, he didn't have to go help but he did, and it was the worst decision in his life. The horrible feeling that entered his gut during the middle of the day, the feeling he tried to ignore, the feeling that led him to break rank and run miles through a city in chaos. That feeling when he pounded on the apartment door and received no answer, the feeling of dread, anxiety, worry, fear. The feeling when he kicked the door open and found her lying in a pool of her own blood; her clothes torn, her body covered in a madman's sadistic cuts, her throat slit. One hand reaching out, her cold dead stare locked on the baby crib.

The empty crib.

He stopped in the middle of the hall, tears stung at his eyes as he inhaled sharply. How could any man live after an ordeal such as that? He had everything taken from him that day; his wife, his child, his home, his job, everything was taken from him.

He leaned against a wall and tried to fight back tears, he was a man, men don't cry. But he did, he couldn't hold back anymore; in the middle of the hallway he let his emotions pour out, for the first time in several years he cried.

He didn't know what was worse, the savage way his wife was murdered and never finding the sick bastard who was responsible; or his infant daughter's disappearance, and never finding her. He searched for years, but there was never a trace of whoever committed those unforgivable acts. His daughter...he didn't know if she was alive or dead, he didn't know where, or even who she was, he knew nothing. That hurt worse than loosing Anna, he hoped that his child was alive and well; but sometimes he thought it might be for the best, how could he have been a good father? Did his daughter, if she was even alive, even know he existed? Was she happy, was she safe? Or was she a slave to the same madman who killed Anna?

He balled his fists and struck them against the wall behind him. He hated himself, crying was for the weak, it was pathetic; that's what he was taught, and that's what he believed. He should get over it, get over her; but he can't, why was he so god-dammed pathetic. He was warned, he even knew in the bottom of his gut, that him getting to spend his life in peace was too good to be true.

He was told multiple times that he couldn't live his life with her; he had the reasons 'explained' by captain Vyacheslav over and over. Ivan always tried to ignore him and his warnings, the man was nothing but an asshole; but turns out he was right after all, he didn't get to live with his wife.

Suddenly the words of his captain came to him. _"I don't know what you have in your head. We are a different breed of men, Sergeant. That little bitch you have back home is a weakness. You used to be different, but now she has brought worry, and doubt to you. She gives you something too lose; and I thought you understood we cannot have that shit on my battlefield. There's a thing called karma, you reap what you sow; and sergeant...look at what we sow. You don't deserve the bitch, you don't get to have her; it's the way of the world...karma. So let's get this straight, one day, she. will. be. gone. Whether she leaves your sorry ass, or she ends up dead; she will be gone one day. You better get ready for that day; because if you are not combat ready that day, you will find yourself dead, by the enemy's hand or my own. I will not tolerate this bullshit from one of my operators._

The tears stopped, those words...he tried to ignore them, tried to ignore everything that man said to him; but maybe he was right, he never deserved Anna. She was always too good for him, he knew it and she knew it, but she loved him anyway. Things weren't perfect but they made it work for almost eight years, then an unexpected pregnancy and the decision to quit; and things looked better. He could have finally gotten away from war, and been with the one he loved. But captain Vyacheslav's prophecies came true; he didn't get to have her, and he didn't even get to spend more than a month with his daughter.

He took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and continued walking to the mess hall. The pain of the cancer eating away at him was nothing compared to the pain caused by loosing a child. Everything changed after that day; he lost the only things he cared for. He started drinking, he joined a PMC and started fighting for money; and after a while it stopped being about the money. He started fighting for the sake of fighting, something about being in a fight for his own life made him forget. When he fought, everything disappeared, politics, worries, wants, remorse, longing, concerns, everything disappeared. Sometimes his vision would tunnel, sometimes he wouldn't even know he was fighting, he would just find himself alone after a fight with no idea what happened.

War was like a drug to him, all the bad disappeared during it, but it was also when a lot of the bad happened to him. As painful as everything that had happened to him was, he knew he had done much worse to other people. Sometimes he thought being stuck on Pandora wasn't because of his choices, but it was punishment; there was nothing to make him forget here, no more jobs, no more contracts, and no drinks to drown the memories. The RDA called this base Hell's Gate, the name was literal for Ivan, maybe a better name would have been purgatory. If Hell was real, Ivan was sure he had a reserved place in the deepest, darkest, spot...maybe all of this really was karma.

Why he was trying this stunt with the Na'vi was a mystery to him. He had lived his life, now he was just running from death; funny, because after he lost Anna he didn't care if he lived or died, he had nothing left to live for. Sometimes he thought he should just end it, save himself and everyone else a lot of trouble; he had a gun on his nightstand, he wanted to, he tried to sometimes, but each time something stopped him. He didn't know what, but he couldn't pull the trigger, he could kill anyone but himself apparently. But it didn't seem natural, he had his pistol loaded, he had drank himself stupid, he had the gun against his head, he had the desire and the will, but he couldn't pull the damn trigger no matter how much he wanted. No, killing himself would be too easy; he had to continue on with his miserable existence.

It was still dark outside when he arrived at the mess hall, by then he more or less had his emotions back in check. All the bad thoughts and memories still lingered at the back of his mind like they always did; maybe a bland breakfast would help, probably not.

He turned on the lights while he grabbed an MRE and a glass of water, when he walked out to find a table he noticed a figure at one of the far tables. He found the light switches and turned several more on. With the extra lights he found that the night guard had fallen asleep.

Walking over, there wasn't much room at the table; not only was the guard slumped over on it; there was a shotgun, stale food, several cups of coffee, and spare parts and tools to the shotgun.

He cleared a spot, sat down, opened his MRE and began to eat. He didn't remember the sleeping man's name, but the insignia on his jacket designated him as a staff sergeant. Whoever he was, he wasn't keeping his hair short; it looked akin to dirty mop; something Ivan couldn't understand, he hated long hair, long hair was for women. He guessed the man slumped over on the table must stand a good 6' ft 3', and be upwards of two hundred pounds, he was a big boy.

Ivan took a bite another bite of his food and took the shotgun from the table. He cycled the action and was happy to find it empty; he wouldn't have to yell at the staff sergeant for breaking safety regulations by leaving a loaded firearm unattended. As he examined the weapon he noticed it had been heavily modified, the tubular magazine had been extended from a standard five count to a seven, which means he could have eight rounds loaded total. The stock he couldn't even recognize, whatever it was it was custom made, so was the pump. Rails had been added along the top of the weapon allowing for other attachments, along with a number of smaller details; this was a far cry from the standard model that the RDA supplies to security forces.

He smiled, the weapon was impressive, but why anyone would put this much time and effort into a situational weapon was beyond him; he never cared much for shotguns.

He set the gun's stock down on the table and tilted it slightly before letting it drop. The sound of the gun smacking the metal table made the sleeping man wake, jump backwards in his seat, and nearly fall over.

The man sat up straight, "What the hell?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"What the hell?" Ivan said, "I could have walked a whole platoon through here while you were sleeping."

"Well that's real funny but..." The man stopped rubbing his eyes and looked up, "Commander!" He suddenly let out, realizing who he was talking too, "Sorry sir."

Ivan picked up his meal and took another bite, "Cut the parade field crap, I hate when people call me commander, or sir. If I wanted to be an officer I could have."

"Sorry sir."

Ivan gave the man an annoyed glare, "So my memory escapes me, that or I really don't give a shit, but who are you?"

The man chuckled a little before letting out a yawn, "Staff Sergeant Schneider, call me Mike."

"Schneider, that's German?"

"Ja."

Ivan paused for a second, recalling a language he never used, _"Do you know any?" _He managed in German.

_"Of course," _Mike answered, _"Born and raised in the Rhineland. You know the language."  
_

"Some, it's rusty at best." Ivan switched back to English, finishing the last of his MRE.

"Well it's better than nothing. That Doctor Wilson doesn't know any," Mike leaned back and stretched, "And he claims to be a true Arian, but no."

"Arian? Master race? What, you a Nazi?"

"Are you a commie?" The German retorted.

"No." Ivan responded with a less than amused tone. "Soviet Union died a long time ago."

"So did the Third Reich."

He knew Mike probably didn't mean anything by it, and he really didn't take much offense to it; but the communist jokes annoyed him.

"So," Ivan slapped the shotgun sitting between them, "What have you been doing to RDA equipment?"

"Oh, just making it my own." The man picked the gun up and cradled it, "I saw it sitting there all alone, collecting dust, I've been prettying it up; it's my baby."

Ivan smiled; here was a man that cared for his weapons. "Well the work on it isn't the kind of stuff I would expect from a normal grunt. What are you?"

"I was a Ranger for a couple years, but before that I was GSG-9."

"So you were a glorified cop?"

"Cop? Hell no!" His voice was angry but his expression lighthearted, "You mean the most badass counter terrorists in the world."

"Well if you were so bad why are stuck out here?"

"Well." He sat the shotgun back on the table and patted it a few times.

"Funny thing about shotguns, if you're not using slugs, and happen to be using...oh I don't know, buckshot, and your not as close to your target as you'd like to be. There's that small chance for collateral damage from a stray pellet. And that collateral just so happens to be a civilian, and that civilian just so happens to have some friends who then cause a big fuss with the government...the guy I was aiming for was going to shoot that same civilian. Does he thank me for saving his life, no."

"Well shit happens. So what, you get fired?"

"No, but they 'persuaded' me to quit. So I did, moved to America, joined the Army did a few tours, signed up with the RDA and well, here I am."

Ivan gave a low grunt in acknowledgment.

"So commander, what about you? "

"Me? Bad choices and a worse idea."

"Come on, I just gave you my life story and that's all I get?"

"You don't want my story." Ivan said staring off into the distance.

"Well can I at least know what you were? You look like you seen a lot."

Mike glanced at the deep scars on Ivan's chin, he recognized something; he didn't know what. He could almost swear he had seen this man before. The angry scowl, the scars, the stress wrinkles creasing his forehead, it all looked strangely familiar.

"Spetsnaz." Ivan grudgingly told him.

"Well, there are some people even I don't want to mess with. What branch specifically?"

"GRU, that's all you get, I've already breached security. I could be put to death, you too" Ivan let out a tired sigh "Like I give a shit anymore; what are they going to do?"

Mike kept looking at the scars on Ivan's chin, where had he seen them before?

Ivan noticed the other mans fixation on his scars, "What? Jesus just take a damn picture it'll last longer."

That was it, he had seen him before in a picture; no not just a picture, was it? He couldn't remember, but something came to mind, a wanted poster but he wasn't sure. The conversation died there, he sat in silence, looking down at the table trying to remember exactly where he had seen Ivan before.

Ivan got up from the table, "Well I need to link up soon. Clean this mess up." He said before walking out.

"_Ja wohl_." Mike said, something didn't sit right with him. Mike knew he had seen Ivan before, he thought in some picture he saw once, and also, in a book but he wasn't sure. Maybe someone else would know, but for now, he had to clean up and finish his shift.

When Ivan walked into the dark link room he was greeted by silence, and he liked it, none of Max trying to talk to him, only silence and dim glow of the control panels in the middle of the room.

Walking to his link capsule he approached the controls and the machine came to life as he warmed it up. Good thing he took the time to remember how Max turned the things on, otherwise he would have made himself look like an idiot, waking up this early and not knowing how to turn it on.

Looking at the status monitor, the signal link was ninety-eight percent and ready for transfer; anything above ninety percent was considered optimal, get under that and the driver would start having problems, like talking on a cell phone with bad signal.

As he laid down in the link bed, he knew Max was going to throw a fit about him linking up unsupervised; he would say something about it not being safe, and that he is concerned with safety, too hell with Max's concerns.

* * *

"You're up early." Jake said, turning his attention from Neytiri to Ivan approaching the fire pit.

"Up in the morning to the rising sun." Ivan responded, while sitting down on the other side of the fire pit.

"Gunna run all day 'till the runnin's done." Jake grinned and looked up, remembering boot camp.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh man, that's cadence. If there's one thing I miss about boot camp, it's that."

"Oh, that's an American phenomenon. We don't need the emotional crutch of singing during boot camp."

"It's not a crutch, it develops breathing control, and it's fun."

"I have never heard this word." Neytiri broke in.

"Cadence? It's a warrior song."

"I did not know MaJake could sing." Neytiri looked at Jake, waiting for him to explain.

He ran his hand through his hair, "Uhh, it's not a song like Ninat sings. It's a song we sing while running, to teach us how to breathe properly."

"A song is a song. Why have you never sung for me Jake?" Neytiri asked.

Ivan smiled as Jake tried to wiggle his way out of having to sing, "It's not something one person sings by himself, there is one person that leads and all the other recruits copy him."

Neytiri huffed in annoyance, and Jake thought he had escaped but Ivan antagonized him, "Oh come on Sully, you don't want to sing for your girl?"

"H-Hey, No, no, no, you stay out of this." He said waving his hands at Ivan.

"Stay out of what?" Norm's voice broke in as he walked up with Ninat.

"These two are trying to get me to sing."

"Jake...sing?" Norm chuckled, "No offense but you better leave that to Ninat here." Ninat smiled as they sat down at the fire pit.

"Thank you, that's what I keep saying." Jake said, relieved someone didn't want him singing.

"Come on Sully, you have to know some songs, even I do." Ivan challenged again.

When Neytiri again looked at him expectantly, Jake brought his voice to an angry whisper with Ivan, "You're digging me into a hole here."

As everyone continued eating their breakfast Ivan watched the two couples, they looked so happy together; it tore at him inside, he was once like that. But it wasn't likely to ever change, he couldn't see himself ever liking one of the blues; they are aliens, they are...were the enemy, they are a bunch of tree huggers. Nothing would change, he would still keep living alone; and that's what he deserved...he stopped and examined his thoughts; he was in a gloomy mood this morning.

He couldn't help it; the thoughts stuck with him and always dragged him into a bad mood. The thoughts stuck with him worse than those stupid pop songs that people called music nowadays; he smiled at that thought, he actually didn't know which was worse, the music or the thoughts...the thoughts.

He heaved a heavy sigh as he watched Jake and Neytiri sit there, happy, and together. He needed a drink, he needed to fight, a cigarette, to kill, he needed something to clear his mind. No, he stopped his thought train, no more killing; he wanted to get away from that.

Now he knew why his father was a drinker, it's hard to forget; Vladimir's wife had died and left him with two children and a war to fight. And his oldest son was killed by his own inaction during a mission he himself had sent him on. Then Ivan was a problem child or 'ungrateful piece of shit' as he called him. Ivan could no longer blame his father for drinking, because his situation was just as bad as his fathers, and he wanted nothing more than to drown himself in vodka and forget.

He didn't know what happened to his father, he completely lost what little contact he had after Anna was killed. But one thing was for certain, the man had to be dead; living the way he did, and he would be old. Ivan wasn't exactly sure how old, but old was a keyword.

He started to compound all the individual months and separate wars into categories. Ivan was thirty-three when he lost Anna, Vladimir was in his fifties. Add almost three and a half years in the Middle East, five years in Asia, add ten months he wished to forget, then almost seven more years working for Alice, then he got word of the Avatar program and spent more than two years...Ivan shook his head in frustration, too much math for this early in the morning. If he had to guess, his father would have been in his late eighties by now; he snorted, there was no way in hell that man was still alive.

* * *

Back at Hell's Gate several hours later and Mike couldn't sleep; part of the reason being he slept through most of his shift but the main reason was he still hadn't remembered exactly where he had seen Ivan before. Normally something like that wouldn't bother him, and if he really wanted to know it could wait until a later time; but something was different, something told him he should watch out for the commander. He didn't know what he was so worried about,

Ivan was one of the good guys, he wouldn't be here if he wasn't; the take over of Hell's Gate wouldn't have happened as well as it did without his help, that is if it even would have happened without him. Ivan organized the whole takeover in less than a day; and personally led it, wounding his Avatar in the process.

But he didn't know the commander that well, Mike had only arrived on the last ISV, the commander had been here for seven years. The conversation in the mess hall was the first one with Ivan in more than half a year. He shouldn't care that much, but deep down his gut told him to be careful, maybe it was the way Ivan always kept to himself, maybe it was the angry demeanor, or the haunted look in the man's eye, but the biggest thing was that Mike had seen him before.

He kept mulling it over in his head, a picture, a picture, then something clicked, not just a picture but several; and not only pictures but he could swear videos, surveillance footage. And then above all else, a book; the name came to him, _'Paramilitary, a look into the modern day mercenary.' _He skimmed through that book once while he was back on earth, a lot of interesting information was in those pages; but that was years ago, he could barely remember what was in it; but he knew who would.

He needed to find Cpl. Stephen Wilds, a scout sniper for the United States Army and a good one too; the man wasn't the normal gung-ho grunt. He read a lot, and was very precise in his actions, especially when it comes to shooting and dealing with his rifle. He could usually be found at the armory, the man had a small obsession with perfecting his weapon, he was always firing it, adjusting the sights, firing again, more adjustments; it went on and on and never stopped. Maybe it was more than a small obsession, but all the practice made the man like a surgeon with his rifle.

Mike needed the armory; he walked for minutes and didn't see a soul. Hell's Gate was too big, normally it would hold twenty-five hundred people, and even then he could walk for several minutes and not happen across someone else; only having fifty-eight made the place a literal ghost town.

He kept walking the empty halls, it was unsettling, being alone, this place used to be full of life; most things were left where they were when the Na'vi kicked the RDA out, offices still had reports sitting on desks, work stations were sitting ready for someone to come. What was even more unsettling was the sound level, the only sounds were Mike's footsteps and the occasional creak and moan of the buildings, it was eerie; the perfect set up for a horror movie, small group of humans, large empty buildings, aliens.

As if on cue, he heard a low thud then a crack echo through the halls, a minute later it was heard again; Stephen was shooting his rifle; that man would use up all the ammo on base by himself. As he neared the armory the gunshots became louder, but less frequent.

He passed through a door and came into the Motor Pool, an oversized hangar that could house hundreds of aircraft and ground vehicles; on the other side was the armory. As he walked he looked up, the ceiling had to be a hundred feet up; only several of the large overhead lights were on, the ones on lead the way to the armory.

He passed through Amp alley, a large corridor running the length of the hanger that was used for maintenance on Amp suits; there were almost twenty still standing at their stations waiting for drivers. Ammo carts were scattered about, some suits still held the massive thirty-millimeter cannons in their hands. It was creepy to look at the giants, just standing there, waiting. No one had touched any of them since the battle in the Hallelujah Mountains, he knew most of them were probably still fully loaded and ready for combat, but there were only two people left who were qualified to operate them.

Another shot echoed through the massive structure, the sound reverberated in the large open space creating a powerful sound.

He was now walking through what, only a year ago, would have been a sea of helicopters; now there were only six working Sampsons, and one Scorpion, which was okay because there were only three pilots remaining. This part of the hanger was now nothing but empty space; the only things indicating the massive air fleet previously stationed here was oil stains and spare parts littering the ground.

Up ahead he heard the clank of a metal tool being dropped and a low curse, in the distance he could see one of the remaining pilots working on the engine of a Sampson; the man's arm was shoulder deep in the engine housing, his face twisted in a mix of frustration and concentration.

As Mike got closer he identified the pilot as Captain Williams; the captain hadn't noticed his approach, he was too occupied with the engine.

Another shot rang out as he walked to the helicopter, looking up the captain was still unaware of his presence.

"What's wrong sir?" Mike asked.

Williams only glanced back at him before mumbling and angry response, "Dropped my goddamn tool, in the fucking...dammit." He muttered more curses under his breath, "Going to have to take the whole damn thing apart now just to get the tool out. Knew I couldn't do it like this."

The pilot thrashed his arm around inside the engine and let out an angry grunt when he still couldn't reach far enough, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep Staff Sergeant?"

"I'm looking for Stephen."

Yet another shot echoed through the hanger, "You know where to find him."

"Sir." Mike said before continuing on his way. Williams let out another string of cursed as he pulled his arm out and climbed on top of the Sampson and began to work on opening the entire engine compartment.

When he passed through the door separating the motor pool and the armory, he looked around; the armory was a large concrete structure, it too was looking bare after the RDA left. What used to be a maze of large pallets of ammo and weapon boxes, was now only several sitting in the corner; but new weapons and ammo could be made on site if need be, all that was needed was the resources and someone to work the computer that controlled the factory machines.

He heard another shot ring out, it sounded like it was outside; he looked towards the firing range and it was empty. Mike then mentally smacked himself, the indoor range was too small for Stephen's rifle, he would be on the walkways that ran the outside of the building.

He went to the opposite wall to a set of stairs, up them and into the airlock that kept them separated from the outside air. He donned an exo-pack, and stepped outside; this time when he heard the gunshot, his ears rang because of his lack of ear protection. He heard someone else say 'eighteen' before he spotted Stephen lying prone on the walkway, aiming his rife off into the distance; another man was standing beside him with binoculars in hand.

As he walked to them the standing man turned around at the loud sound the his footsteps on the metal walkway, Mike recognized Stephen's friend and spotter, Cpl. Ethan Hall, as soon as he opened his mouth and spoke like a redneck, "I didn't know we's invited the krauts out he'a. Whadd'a ya want Fritz?"

"I didn't come out here to talk to an inbred-cousin fucking-redneck-piece of white trash." Mike responded, faking annoyance.

Ethan pressed his hand to his heart, "I will take that there as a compliment."

Mike smiled as he stood beside the two men, "What are you doing out here."

Ethan and Stephen both responded at the same time.

"Loosing a bet."

"Winning a bet."

Stephen still stared down the scope of his rifle.

"What bet would that be?" Mike asked.

"I bet Stephen here, that he couldn't hit yonder target twenty times in a row." He said pointing in the same direction Stephen was aiming.

Mike squinted but could see no target, the direction they were facing looked out over the massive runways built for the Valkrye shuttles to land; but he could see nothing resembling a target. "What target?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ethan said, handing his binoculars to him. "Fence line, between towers five and six, we put a target up in the cargo door of a scrapped Sampson."

When he found the target he let out a low whistle, "Damn, that's got to be at least fifteen hundred meters."

The target was on the complete opposite side of Hell's Gate; it was across the air staging grounds, the runway, past the barracks and civilian quarters, and past the refinery.

Stephen, still staring down the scope of his rifle corrected him, "Actually, its twenty-one hundred and forty meters, give or take one or two."

"Holy shit." Mike let out; the target was over a mile away.

"I know right." Ethan said, "This crazy s.o.b. has hit the target eighteen out of eighteen times now; I was sure he couldn't even hit it once, then he started shooting, and he has hit it every time like it was nothing."

As soon as he said those words, Stephen pulled the trigger on his rifle. The sound was deafening from this close. Ethan snatched the binoculars back and looked towards the target. After several seconds he let his arms drop, "Son-of-a..." he muttered.

"Nineteen." Stephen said coolly, working the bolt on his rifle, ejecting the spent round.

"I swear this guy is cheating or something, I call hacks." Ethan muttered.

"Aimbot?" Mike suggested.

"No substitute for skill." Stephen said, once again staring down his scope. He had several small feathers tied to strings wrapped around the scope, used for basic guesstimation on wind speeds.

"That's some skill."

"It is, a lot of things come into play. I got the wind here, to the target, and at the target. I have the change in elevation. The Coreolis effect, the humidity, how many times I have fired my rifle, the round I am using, you two idiots distracting me, the limitations of this scope, I'm pushing the limits of this rifle, etcetera, etcetera...but this lower gravity makes things a bit easier in the range department; but it is almost negated due to the air density on this planet. It did throw me off when I first got here, but I think I have it down now."

"I would say you have it down." Ethan mumbled. "Wind isn't bad today either."

That is exactly why Mike could never be a sniper, too many variables, too much math; he preferred to be up close to his target. But this here was an amazing show of skill, one more hit and Stephen wins a bet. "What do you win exactly?"

"His week for night watch comes right after my week..." Ethan sighed.

"Looks like you're about to have two weeks straight."

"He still has one more shot to make." Ethan reminded.

It was quiet as they stood there waiting for the final win or lose shot. It was calm, the wildlife didn't come around the base, the factory no longer poured out smoke, there was no air traffic, how things had changed.

Ethan crossed his fingers as the seconds ticked by; Stephen laid there completely still, waiting for his chance. More time passed and the tension grew, just when it looked like he was going to fire, the low howl of the wind could be heard as it passed by the buildings. When the wind didn't calm, the sniper reached his left hand to his scope and adjusted the wind several clicks before continuing to lie perfectly still, shifting his aim only slightly.

Mike fought back the urge to yawn as they waited for that final shot, he was tired now; this was another reason he couldn't be a sniper, he didn't have the patience.

They both heard Stephen slowly exhale, and then there was another deafening crack from his rifle. Mike could feel the over-pressure caused by the rifle slap against his chest; it was a wonderful feeling.

Ethan looked through his binoculars, his fingers crossed even as he held it. After several seconds he saw Ethan's mouth drop and his shoulders drop, a defeated look crossed his face; he didn't say anything.

Stephen stood up, and smiled. "I win Corporal."

"Momma always said gambling would get me in trouble." Ethan said looking down, "She told me that right after she gambled away our apartment."

Stephen patted him on the back before starting to walk back inside.

"Stephen I need your help." Mike said, leaving Ethan standing alone.

"With what sir?"

"Need to know if you ever read-"

Before he could finish Ethan was suddenly behind him yelling.

"READING! No, no, no, no; It is my duty, as a God fearing American, to inform you that Reading, never, not, done did, no one, no where, no good, never."

Stephen stopped and counted, "Wow, there were, I think, nine negatives in that sentence."

"Just pressing my point." Ethan then scoffed, "Reading, what a waste of time."

"This coming from the guy that failed kindergarten." Stephen motioned back towards Ethan as they walked inside.

"No I didn't fail, I was kicked out. That teacher was hot, and what she was wearing; she was just begging for attention." He defended.

"Yeah? And you were what? Nineteen years old."

"We all learn at our own pace."

"You know what? Sometimes I find it best to ignore you."

Ethan stopped following them, "Fine be that way. I still didn't fail kindergarten."

"But you didn't pass either. Anyway, what did you need sir?" Stephen turned his attention back to Mike.

"I wanted to know if you ever read that Paramilitary book, the one about all the big PMC's and had a section on famous mercenaries."

Stephen closed his eyes and blew out a breath, "I might have skimmed through it, any particular reason you want to know sir?" Stephen already knew why, it was only a matter of time before someone other than him came to the same conclusions.

"I need to know about those chapters that list the big time mercenaries."

"I thought so." Stephen said walking into the arms room and putting his weapon away. "And I know who you want to look up."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, and sir, it might be better if you just forgot all about this and didn't ask about it."

"It's too late for that, now I'm interested."

"You really don't need to know more about Master Sergeant Petrovich, there's a good reason he keeps to himself."

"So he was in that book."

Stephen sighed and started walking towards the motor pool. "Yes."

"Well? Why is he in there?"

"You can find out for yourself, there should be a copy in the library."

Mike was silent for several moments, "There's a library here?"

"It's mostly filled with science books, medical journals, and all that; but there is a pretty good collection of other books. And even if we don't have a physical copy, there is an entire electronic library."

"Didn't know that."

"I don't think anyone does."

They began their long walk to the library, on the opposite side of Hell's Gate. By the time they would reach it, Mike would have walked over a miles distance that morning.

When they passed captain Williams in the hanger, there were hundreds of parts spread around the Sampson, and the Captain was very angry.

"All. for. one. fucking. part." He told them as they walked by, motioning to the increasing number of parts sitting around the aircraft.

They walked and walked, Mike thought that there should be some sort of tram system; this place is too big to walk around in a reasonable amount of time. It wouldn't be so bad if wasn't tired, he had been up all...most of the night, and even then only the coffee kept him going.

When they arrived at the library Mike saw the clock on the wall, "Twenty freaking minutes to walk here!" He said aloud.

"Nice little walk isn't it?" Stephen answered scanning the bookshelves lining the walls.

Mike had no clue there was a library in Hell's Gate, but most of the books here didn't look like they would interest him anyway; there was a decent amount though.

"I think there is one actual copy." Stephen said while searching.

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Because, ah here." He pulled a book of the wall, "You are going to go to read it for yourself. And get back to me on what you think; it will be nice to have a second opinion on it." He walked over to him, flipping through the pages. "Here we go."

He held the book open, and turned it towards Mike, on the page was the heading 'The Bear' and below it was an enlarged, grainy, picture of a man walking down a street looking just off the side of the camera. The man in the picture had the same deep scars across his chin as Ivan, the same haunted look and angry scowl, but slightly fewer wrinkles, and his hair still had color left in it.

"Looks like the commander doesn't it?" Stephen asked, handing him the book.

"That is him." Mike examined the picture. "He is younger but that's him."

"Ahh, it's not confirmed. The man in the picture is known as the name at the top of the page as well as some other names. It's not confirmed whether or not this is actually Ivan Petrovich, but it is suspected and backed by some good evidence. But a lot of it is rumors."

"The Bear." He looked down the page, there were some other aliases listed, "Ivan the terrible? Same name."

"I'm pretty sure there is more than one Ivan back on Earth."

Mike pointed to the picture, "Who looks exactly like this guy, who looks like the guy who is in charge here."

"Listen, just go sleep, then read it; there is a whole chapter on this guy. The man who wrote this did a lot of research, there are a lot of facts, then there are rumors, and there is no actual link between the 'Bear' and Ivan Petrovich, besides them looking alike. Now go." Stephen started to push him out of the library.

"The Bear, wonder why that name?" Mike asked as he walked out.

"Maybe it's because he can grow a pretty mean beard, there's a picture of him with one. But I really think it's because of something else. Rumor says that during survival training, one thing they do is drop the trainee in the middle of nowhere with a shirt, pants, shoes, and a knife and say 'good luck, try not to freeze to death, be back for you in a week.' Instructors came back in a week and Ivan had himself a coat fashioned from bear fur. Supposedly he took down a bear by himself...if this is Ivan we are talking about and not his evil twin or something."

"Wow. I would think that would be illegal; them being endangered and all."

"Well this was about forty years, well forty six counting the trip out here, so forty six years ago. Earth didn't start going to hell until about twenty years ago."

"Hard to believe things changed so fast, but still a bear all by himself?"

"Well it's all just speculation, rumors, and hearsay. And I am not about to go ask the commander about all of it either. And don't you try, and don't tell anyone else about this. Read this first then you'll know why, if this really if the commander then there is a good reason he keeps to himself; even if this 'bear' character isn't him, the commander could still be the Ivan Petrovich mentioned in the book.

"And the book says, that one renowned Spetsnaz assault-man, team 248, by the name of Ivan Petrovich; son of the decorated Colonel Vladimir Petrovich, and younger brother to Captain Nikoli Petrovich. Snapped during the Moscow riots in 2123; this was predicted by commanding officers, who noted decreasing mental stability in him during the past two years. That day, he shot a fellow teammate, stormed his apartment building, killing rioters outside, everyone in the lobby and everyone on the way to his apartment. And when he got to his apartment, he murdered his own wife...and they don't know what happened to his daughter."

"Shit...you have this stuff memorized? But still...no wonder that man looks the way he does."

"Yeah, I might have read through it one time to many. Anyway, go sleep, read, think."

Mike turned to start walking but stopped and looked back and forth down the hallway, he had never been here before.

"Barracks are to your right." Stephen said. "Now go to sleep you big idiot." He added as the other man got further away. Then he considered what he should do for the rest of the day; there wasn't much other than trying to fix the multitude of things that break around the base.

He then decided the best course of action would be to find Ethan, and gloat about wining the bet.

* * *

Jake, Neytiri, and Ivan were on their way to the fields outside of Hometree where the pali were kept. Introducing Tsahaylu was one of the first things done during training for Jake, Norm, and now Ivan; it would give them a respect for the animals, and knowing how to form the bond was a necessary skill.

Ivan wanted to try and learn more of the language with Norm, but Jake soon came along and dragged him off. So he ended up tagging along with Jake while he took care of his duties; and by tag along, Ivan really only stood off in a corner somewhere.

He had been with Jake for a hunters meeting, Jake would organize the hunts for the day; he couldn't understand a word that was said but it seemed that everything was routine, everything was already planned. Jake probably didn't need to oversee anything at all; the hunters seemed to already know where they would hunt.

Ivan saw the Na'vi woman from the lake at the meeting, Tayrha he recalled her name; she seemed distracted, or distraught might have been a better description. She didn't seem to take part of the hunts though; she headed back into hometree when the other hunters headed out into the jungle.

While they were walking Jake spoke, "I guess I need to warn you Ivan."

"About what?" Ivan responded, shaken from his thoughts.

"Not everyone here is one hundred percent happy with...well me, and they are not happy with anything that has to do with humans, that means you, Norm, me, and even the few left at Hell's Gate. They would rather have us all killed than let us live here."

"Not anything new," Ivan mumbled, "So should I be looking out for someone? I hope no one is going to pull a knife on me or anything." He alluded to the previous night, he hadn't told anyone about the incident.

"I really hope not, some may not like me; but I am their leader and Toruk Makto, they respect that. I don't see anyone trying to kill us, but some may challenge you or just be assholes in general." He ran his hand through his hair, something that Ivan noticed Jake doing a lot. "I guess the biggest person we have trouble with is the head warrior."

"Ko'gan" Neytiri added.

"Yeah, him," Jake confirmed, "He is a real big one, they call him the mountain. You will know him when you see him. Might as well call him goliath."

"It is sad." Neytiri said. "He has been blinded by anger, he cannot see. All but his Tsmuke was taken from him by the Sky people."

"That's his sister." Jake said, Ivan probably didn't know the word.

"His parents, his home, the woman he intended to mate; all taken from him."

"And he was friends with Tsu'tey, the last head warrior." Jake added.

"That will about do it." Ivan said to himself, "I know what he is going through."

"Have you lost a mate?" Neytiri asked cautiously.

Neytiri and Jake waited for an answer but received none; they decided not to pursue the subject.

Ivan changed the subject. "So give me intel, if it comes to a fight; what should I expect?"

"Violence is not the answer." Neytiri said.

Ivan cleared his throat, "Violence may not be the right answer, or the best answer. But it will always be an answer; and with the proper application, it will always work."

Neytiri shook her head disapproval while Jake spoke, "Well for the most part, the Na'vi seem to be good wrestlers. Ko'gan himself is probably more likely to just pick you up and throw you into a tree; seriously, the guy is huge." Jake threw his arms out to emphasize the 'huge' part. "But other than that, there isn't much to worry about; but don't get me wrong, they are good fighters. But they lack the kind of training we have had. I could beat pretty much any of them if I needed to."

They were passing the training fields; Ivan could see several Na'vi sparring in the distance. From what he could see, they looked to favor wrestling; he saw spears and knifes. He could easily handle the knives and the wrestling; the spears, not a thing one sees on Earth, but he would say he could use the same techniques he used on someone with a rifle.

He wasn't worried in the least, his father taught him to fight from the time he could stand; he fought through military academy until he was kicked out, he fought through school, he was an enforcer in a gang, the military honed his skills, the special forces made him an unstoppable force. If Sully could beat most of them, he could beat all of them; because he knew he could beat a marine easy.

"Well then I have nothing to worry about, if you can beat most of them Sully; I can beat them all, I know for damn sure I could take you on easy."

"Hey, lets hold on here." Jake held one hand up, "Don't get ahead of yourself, I know some moves; I can hold my own."

"Where do they train you marines?" Ivan asked.

"Paris Island."

Ivan laughed, "Well, what they taught you at your...Paris Island Paradise, doesn't hold a metaphorical candle, to what I learned in Siberia."

"Is that so?" Jake challenged.

"You two act like children." Neytiri added to the conversation; but she listened intently, Jake wouldn't tell her much about his home.

"Yes it is so. While you were running around on your little Island, I was dealing with below zero temperatures; minimal food, sleep, water. Some of the worst conditions you could find."

"Well, still; it wasn't a paradise, it was hard."

"An Island; just those words I can laugh at. You know what I got? An old Soviet era missile complex, way out in the middle of nowhere, ICBM's still sitting in their silos. We had people go missing, freeze to death, starve, beaten, shot at...shot, killed by animals, we had people die out there Sully."

"We lost one in our squad, accidentally shot himself; name was Chris."

"And by die, I mean killed. The instructors were psychotics; shit...I almost died a few times, some stuff I never want to go through again." Ivan shook himself when memories flooded back.

'Your teachers would kill their students?" Neytiri asked in shock.

"Well it wasn't encouraged, and was frowned upon; but if someone died, no one cared, and no one was reprimanded. Like I said, one almost killed me one day, got it so bad I couldn't even think straight; I was out of commission for a week." Ivan chuckled, "Then I had to make up for that week, I think that was worse than almost dieing...made us tough as hell though."

"Sky people...just so...violent." Neytiri said, still in disbelief. Killing a student, and not being punished, and no one even caring; she couldn't comprehend such a thing.

"Ain't that the truth?" Jake and Ivan both responded.

They had arrived at the Pali fields; Neytiri went to retrieve one of the animals while Jake finished his conversation. "You know what, tomorrow; we go to the training field, and we spar. Let's see if you're as big and tough as you think you are."

"Okay." Was Ivan's simple response. _"You'll regret it."_ He said in Russian.

When Neytiri arrived with a Pali in tow, Ivan examined it for a few seconds. It was basically an oversized horse with six legs; he hadn't been this close to one before, when he had been near them before they would run off. At least it was one of the few things on the planet that didn't try to kill him.

When Jake motioned for Ivan to climb up, he jumped and easily mounted the animal; doing much better than Jake's first attempt a year ago.

"Don't fall." Jake said sarcastically while Ivan steadied himself.

"Do not worry Ivan. It would be hard to do worse than Ma Jake did his first time." Neytiri and Ivan both smiled after her comment.

"You're supposed to be on my side." Jake pouted.

"Ma Jake you think so high of yourself, your head will pop one day." Neytiri slapped Jake on the back of the head lightly.

Ivan just sat there, unsure of what to do; he had never ridden a horse before, much less this giant thing. But how hard could it be?

"So how do I work this thing?" He asked.

"Seven years here and you never formed tsahaylu? Ever think the big pony tail was there for anything other than show?"

"I thought it was just here to get in the way; and hurt like hell if someone hits it. But most of the time when I was on deployment, I was trying not to get eaten; not worrying about my hair."

Jake quickly gave him a 'this goes there' explanation about his braid. Ivan pulled his braid forward towards where Jake had explained, he was slightly surprised when pink tendrils emerged from his hair and reached out towards the same ones on the Pali.

Ivan looked at the neural fibers as the waved back and forth in a futile attempt to connect to the Pali. "Creepy." He said, "What's this like?" He wanted to look before he leaped.

"It's pretty awesome, you will feel what it feels, and vice versa. The Pali are tame, they just do what you tell them; some other animals like Ikran or especially the Toruk are more stubborn...especially the Toruk. Just keep calm, if you freak out, it will freak out. Once you form the bond, you can tell it what to do by just thinking; don't have to speak a word."

"Okay." Ivan exhaled, why did he feel like he was going to regret this?

He slowly brought his braid closer to the Pali's. The pink fibers waved faster as they closed the distance. When they touched, Ivan felt a spark in his mind. Then something else; it was familiar.

_"Fight it!" _He heard a voice shout.

He felt something enter his mind, something that wasn't normal; it didn't belong there.

_"Fight it!"_ The voice shouted again. _"You've been captured; right now the enemy is extracting every detail of your mission."_

He felt the familiar pain of something that wasn't him connecting to his mind. Training kicked in, he set up mental barriers; shut himself off.

_"We won't stop this until you can stop us. Right now we are extracting everything." The voice shouted at him again. Ivan screamed in pain, it felt like someone was digging through his head with a chainsaw. The machine he was hooked up to was ripping into his mind, tearing out information. The voice laughed, "Nice girlfriend; nice rack she has...oh my, now this is interesting; I know people who would pay to see this."_

Neytiri couldn't believe what just happened, as soon as Ivan bonded with the Pali; he screamed, the Pali bucked hard and sent him flying. Jake had barely enough time to get away from the Pali as it stormed off. She couldn't hold back laughter; somehow he had done worse than Jake did his first attempt.

Ivan was lying in the grass on his back; the Pali had thrown him a good distance back, and he hit the ground hard. His right shoulder looked to be in an odd position. Jake was laughing too; he started to walk over to help Ivan up.

_What just happened? It felt like he was flying, then there was a sharp pain in his shoulder and now he was on his back. Ivan looked down to his right shoulder, it was out of place; it hurt badly. He was in a large outdoor arena surrounded by large stone pillars; he was sitting just off the side of a mud puddle. He heard shouting, jeers, and cheering of a multitude of people. Then the same voice from before yelled in his ear. "Don't let that dumb bastard win, defend yourself!" Ivan looked ahead and saw a man in a prison uniform approaching, a sadistic smile on his face; a knife strapped across his chest._

Neytiri watched as Jake went to help Ivan up from the ground; then she felt emotions hit her, emotions of confusion, fear, and anger. She saw Ivan looking around in confusion, see caught a glimpse of his eyes; they were empty, she called out to Jake and started towards them, but it was too late.

_His opponent was upon him, he had to act now. "Defend yourself!" The voice shouted again. He couldn't move his right arm, but he didn't need it to win. The plan formulated instantly in his head. Ivan kicked out with his right foot, hitting his opponent in the shin and throwing his leg out from under him. _

_The man's face twisted into surprise as he caught himself right before he hit the ground. Ivan threw a hard left hook, connecting square to the man's temple, stunning him. Coming back with his elbow, Ivan connected with the other side of the man's head, sending him crashing to his left. _

_The man had been brought to his level, stunned, and incapacitated, only one more step. "Eliminate!" The voice shouted._

Neytiri watched in horror as Ivan stuck Jake several times; and fear overwhelmed her as she saw Ivan reach beside him and grab a large rock from the ground. She didn't have time to think, she only acted as she lashed out with her bow.

_He rolled on top of his opponent and raised the rock above his head; but before he could bring it down he felt a hard smack, and the rock flew from his hand. Looking to his right he saw a woman wielding a metal pipe. She swung at him again, and he twisted his body enough that he could catch the pipe with his left arm._

_As soon as he caught the pipe the woman reacted, her leg connected with his dislocated shoulder. He grunted in pain as the kick knocked him from atop his first opponent. He recovered quickly and rolled to his feet in time to block another strike from the woman; once again catching the end of the weapon with his left hand._

_He narrowly dodged the next attack when the woman used the other end of the pipe to try and strike him in the head; ducking under the attack he was forced to let go or he would be thrown off balance as the woman twisted with her attack. _

_The woman used her momentum to do a full circle and Ivan didn't have time to move when the woman swept his feet out from under him with the pipe. He felt a sickening crunch as he landed on his right shoulder; ignoring the pain he rolled forward as the woman brought the pipe down towards his head. He managed to avoid having his head smashed but as he rolled onto his knees he tried in vain to raise his right arm to block the next attack, he had just enough time to look back before he felt the pipe connect with the back of his head._

_The world was black for several seconds; when he finally regained his bearing he was face first in a mud puddle. What little he could see was fuzzy, and his ears were ringing. Again he heard the voice shout, "Get your lazy ass up corporal!"_

_He wasn't about to give up, this part of training was brutal; life or death, and his opponents had made the mistake of not killing him. He wasn't giving up, but before he could pick himself up he heard the woman hiss at him._

He still laid face down in the mud, did someone just hiss at him? Why was he in them mud, why did his head and his shoulder hurt; he grunted in pain as he glanced at his shoulder, even under his jacket he could tell it was out of place to a sickening degree, and it was already swelling. He looked at his surroundings, he was still in the dirt and mud, but the large pillars were now trees and there was no more shouting.

He glanced up and saw a man in a Russian combat officer uniform; it was something he hadn't seen in a long time. The soldier, who looked strangely familiar, only shook his head in disgust before fading from view.

* * *

The same thing, he did the same thing he did every day for the past year. Tech Sergeant Davids stared at a screen for six hours, monitoring signals, broadcasts, and transmissions; in fact this was what he did for the past seven years, only with a slightly different schedule and nothing to monitor. When he signed up to come to Pandora, he didn't think he was going to spend all his time sitting and staring at computers; he cursed himself every day for becoming a signal specialist. For once he wished he could get out and experience Pandora, screw the dangers; but all he had experienced was the walk from the Valkrye shuttle, and the view from the control room windows.

When the native uprising took place he thought maybe he would finally see some action, maybe he would get to do something. He did, he got to sit in the control room and help monitor the battle; now it was worse, for the past year there was nothing to watch out for, nothing to monitor. But command kept him here at his post, he couldn't sleep through his shift, he tried once. So instead he idly stared at his station and thought of whatever came to his mind.

Sometimes he would try and think of what it would be like to finally go home, but then he would remember what exactly he came from; he didn't want to admit it but he would rather sit here staring at empty screens until he died instead of going home. He didn't even have a home; he sold everything before he took the trip out here.

He was so lost in his state of boredom, that he didn't notice the small red indicator light up at his station. He didn't even notice the audible beep coming from the monitoring station; he was so used to seeing nothing that he didn't take notice even when he stared directly at the indicator light.

* * *

Neytiri crouched over Jake, her breathing was fast but it was slowing; if she had been a second late and Jake would be...she didn't want to think about that. She watched Ivan like a hawk, ready to fight again; but he only stayed lying in the mud, mumbling something in that language she heard him use last night.

Jake moaned and she turned her attention away from Ivan,

"Ma Jake are you okay?" She asked in a worried tone.

Jake once again moaned and brought his hands to his head, pressing down where Ivan had hit him.

Neytiri placed one hand on his cheek, "Ma Jake." she said again.

"He hits hard." Jake mumbled in response.

Neytiri smiled, he was okay. "He tried to kill you." She pointed out.

"Well, good thing you were here." Jake opened his eyes and gazed at Neytiri. Just the sight of her face and that beautiful smile made the pain go away. He turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand.

"Thank you." He said, "Just one more I owe you."

"You owe nothing, but you are a skxawng. You warn everyone about Ivan; and then you don't pay attention, now look at you."

"I could have taken him." He joked.

Ivan moaned and they both looked towards him; when Neytiri readied her bow again Jake laid his hand on her shoulder to calm her, the fight was over.

Ivan grunted as he rolled onto his back, and asked them something in Russian. Neytiri looked at Jake for an explanation but he only shrugged in response. Ivan asked the question again and tried to sit up, but grabbed his shoulder in pain and laid back down.

For a third time Ivan spoke in Russian.

"English." Jake said to him. "English man."

Ivan stared up at the sky for several moments, 'what about English.' he thought to himself. Then he remembered what language to use; that last blow to the head did a number on him.

"What. the. hell. happened?" He grumbled.

"You tell me, you just went apeshit on us." Jake said as Neytiri helped him up.

"I...what?" He looked at Jake as approached, Neytiri behind him; she was still at the ready.

He tried to remember what happened; he remembered the voice of one of his instructors and being attacked.

"Someone was-" He remembered the woman when he saw Neytiri, "That was you two." He let his head fall back in the mud.

Jake kneeled down beside him, "What happened?" He asked.

"I thought...shit..." He was still trying to process what happened. "This is why Max, and that psychia...psycholo...whatever the hell she is; this is why they're so worried about me."

* * *

Was something happening? He couldn't believe it, something was happening; Tech Sergeant Davids couldn't hold back a smile when he finally noticed the red light at his terminal. Now just what was this, he wondered as he started to investigate.

He selected the new signal and opened it. The signal was coming from an emergency combat transmitter; he didn't know why anything like that would be going off. There were no RDA personnel still left on the mainland, discounting the traitors at Hell's Gate.

He investigated further, bringing up a map showing the location of the signal while searching for specifics of the transmitter.

His workstation screen turned to a map and quickly went from his location to the source of the signal; luckily there was a satellite in range of the beacon. He couldn't move a satellite in fear of the Hell's Gate traitors finding out, but he could access and view the location they were currently covering. He could see a large tree with many heat signatures in and around it; this meant it was a native village. In a field not far from the tree there was a blinking red spot on the map signaling the location of the transmitter.

When he tried to find out exactly who or what was broadcasting the signal he was shocked and confused. All he got was an RDA equipment log, when he looked through the file he discovered it was for an Avatar. But there was no information on the Avatar or the driver, there wasn't even a name; only an ID tag, when he tried to open that he was greeted with large red letters spelling the word, 'Classified.'

He wondered why there was an Avatar with no information available, it's not like the program was a secret, he should have easy access to the information. Another thing he thought about was why this Avatar unit was broadcasting with combat locater; those were for security personnel who were in an emergency. And third, why there was a signal at all; his commanders had tried to monitor the Avatar's to keep track of the traitors' movements, but the traitors had disabled the tracking chips in most of the Avatar units.

After examining the signal more he found that the Hell's Gate traitors probably wouldn't know of this signal unless they were scanning emergency combat channels.

Davids was ecstatic, finally something interesting happening. He looked around trying to find an officer, he didn't see one but he saw someone just as good. "Master Sergeant Yagudin." He called out.

"Da? What is it Davids." Came the reply, a Russian accent covered the words.

Davids watched the man approach; The Master Sergeant was from a different RDA instillation than the one he was stationed at. The man was skinny but had muscle on him; his black hair had streaks of gray running through it; he walked with the slightest limp in his left leg. At first glance the Master Sergeant looked as though he may have been in his forties, but a friend had told him that he was actually into his fifties; but the man was in excellent physical condition.

"I've picked up a locator beacon sir." Davids said once the Master Sergeant was at his side.

"Beacon? From what?" His accent making his last word sound with more of a 'V' than a 'W'.

"Well sir, it's a combat signal. But it belongs to an Avatar."

"I thought all Avatar beacons had been disabled?"

"Apparently not all of them. This one just showed up."

"Who does it belong to?"

"I do not know sir." Davids admitted, pulling up the Avatar file on his screen. "The files are all empty, except for one which is classified."

"Classified, why in hell would it be classified?" The sergeant took his own personal data tablet and synced it with Davids workstation; all the information that David had appeared on his data tablet. "Keep tracking the signal. I will inform the Colonel."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Ivan was sitting with his jacket off; he gave a low grunt as Jake slowly rotated his shoulder, moving it back into place inch by inch.

He let out low curses as Jake rotated it more, despite the pain Ivan's expression was neutral; he was taught to ignore pain, and in truth it didn't hurt enough to really bother him, he was just angry at the situation in general.

"You fell on this good." Jake said as he continued working the dislocated bone back into place.

"Then your girl went and kicked it, then threw me down on it." Ivan said in annoyance. "Neytiri, good job by the way."

"What?" Neytiri asked, he couldn't be congratulating her for beating him could he?

"You beat me good. I was injured but still...not a bad fighter you got here Jake."

"Yeah, she can kick some ass."

Ivan grunted again when Jake was a little hastier in trying to fix his shoulder.

"Jake maybe we should get a healer." Neytiri said in concern, the dreamwalker's shoulder looked to be in very bad shape; but Ivan's expression made it look like it was only a small annoyance to him.

"Just fucking fix it." Ivan said, he was getting angrier at the situation with each passing second.

"Language." Jake scolded.

"Fuck. you." Ivan glared at Jake.

"Hey...don't threaten me with a good time."

Ivan dropped his head and chuckled, "That's pretty good."

"I try." Jake twisted Ivan's arm hard and he grimaced as he heard a pop.

* * *

It was a good thing the Master Sergeant was still in good shape, he had to go up four flights of stairs to get the command center where the Colonel was. The limp still caused him problems even though he had several surgeries to fix it; it was better than it used to be but it still bothered him. Just being stuck with a slight limp was a good thing considering it was caused by an angry friend with a gun; he wasn't sure if the word friend still applied to his friend, he only saw him one time after the incident, and asshole didn't even say sorry. But he was a forgiving person, and his friend was having the mother of all bad days so he could forgive him. That was a long time ago; and it was still a long time since he had seen his friend, he wondered what became of him, but this was no time to reminisce about the days of old.

He walked into the command center, which was basically an oversized flight control tower converted for use as a command center; the actual command center was deep down in the lower levels of the base but the Colonel liked to be topside.

The room was crowded, but that was normal; extra barracks and sleeping quarters had to be constructed to fit all the extra personnel, but it was still crowded. He pushed past several workers and spotted the Colonel standing with the major looking out the windows overlooking the base.

The command structure was in shambles, the Major was the commanding officer of the base, but then the Colonel arrived took over much to the Major's disdain; then there were three separate administrators fighting for power. But in all reality, the Colonel had seized most of the control, which was a good thing; for it seemed that he was the only one with any idea of what to do. He was glad that Quaritch hadn't survived, having that idiot here too would completely screw the situation more than it was now.

It was worse than politics, there were three separate groups of security personnel, three large civilian groups, three administrators, two science divisions, and then the RDA executives that wanted Pandoran operations to continue.

The Major and the Colonel fought for power, the Major's men on his side, the Colonel's men on his; the remains of the Hell's Gate security forces were split. Some wanted revenge, some wanted peace, most wanted to go home. Everyone was on edge, there was much unrest, fights would break out, full-scale riots had been narrowly avoided.

Supplies were running low, and the base was well past max capacity. They needed to move, not only because of dwindling supplies, but the administrators insisted that mining operations resume; but that meant the possibility of discovery.

Yagudin noticed that the Colonel and the Major were talking, he had to stop and watch; getting them to talk was impossible, or more getting the Major to talk with the Colonel was impossible.

The Colonel was another Russian ages past retirement, he has a nasty temper, but he never lets it show; mostly because he is under strict orders from the doctors to keep calm lest he risk a heart attack. He is a large man with a commanding presence; he loves his vodka and had an impressive stash back at the old base, although he insists that he doesn't drink much anymore. Most of the time the Colonel is calm and knows exactly what to do, and he never lets anything cloud his judgment. He was once described to have a demeanor like a sleepy bear; he is big, moves slowly, his English isn't good and he is forced to speak it slowly. But once you wake him up, he was a force to be reckoned with; despite his age and slowly failing health, the man knows how to fight, and isn't afraid to jump in if need be. He is a brilliant tactician, an excellent shot, and a proven expert at hand-to-hand combat. If there is one person who can resolve the current situation it the Colonel; and one good thing is that he isn't looking for war unlike Quaritch was, and unlike Quaritch, he is thoroughly prepared for a war.

Major Brown on the other hand is a brash, impatient, U.S. Army Reserve officer who never saw combat on Earth or Pandora, and is looking for his first fight. He is angry that some Russian had taken his base and his men from him. He was mad that they weren't taking the fight to the blue monkeys right now. Master Sergeant Yagudin remembered how the Colonel described the Major once, "A disgruntled American Cowboy with stick up the ass." The Colonel said that right to the Major's face, followed by a slow laugh. Brown made it clear that if he was in charge, he would stomp all over the Na'vi, or at least he would try; but thankfully the Colonel was in charge and had most of the men on his side...most, Brown's men were still on his side but the Colonel had them outnumbered.

Yagudin approached the Colonel and called to him in Russian. _"Colonel, sir."_

The Colonel stopped his talk with Major Brown and turned to Yagudin, _"Yes Andrey, what is it?"_

The Colonel and Yagudin were friends for a long time, long enough that he was one of the few people that the Colonel called by first name. _"A tech picked up a locator beacon."_ Andrey answered.

"English." Major Brown's angry voice broke in. "Please...sorry, I think we are all on edge." He tone still remained annoyed; the man was almost a racist, he hated the Andrey and the Colonel.

The Colonel switched to English for Brown's benefit, "What kind of beacon Sergeant?" He spoke slowly, coupled with his accent and made him sound unintelligent.

Andrey still stuck with Russian. _"A combat locator, but it's-"_

"English dammit!" Brown yelled, causing everyone in the room to stop and look towards him.

"Speak English Andrey. So Major does not get panties in bunch." The Colonel said, following the sentence with a grin and his trademark slow laugh.

The Major's face grew red, and he looked flustered. How he hated those fucking Russians, if he could do away with them he could; and he would do things right, no more sitting around, he would kick the Na'vi's ass and then kill that damn traitor marine Sully.

Andrey continued his English was much better; he learned it many years ago. "Like I said before being so rudely interrupted. A tech picked up a combat locator beacon, but is registered to an Avatar."

"I thought the damn tree huggers disabled all the tracking chips?" Brown asked.

"This isn't the standard locator; this is an emergency beacon, a combat model. The Avatar it's registered to has little information available, and what there is, is classified."

Andrey handed his data tablet to the Colonel, and the Colonel looked over the almost non-existent information.

"Da, I know of this." The Colonel tapped the tablet and handed it back to Andrey. "Some year ago, the Colonel Quaritch spoke to me of special Avatar he was getting. He spoke high of this Avatar; it is supposed to be first military test run for Avatar type body. He say driver is Spetsnaz operator like you Andrey."

Andrey nodded, "Do you think he is a traitor? I cannot see an operator switching sides like that."

"Maybe, maybe not. What would you do Andrey, if you were that man?" The Colonel asked.

"I would do? Given the situation, put myself where he is now. Pretend to be a traitor, then when the time comes; rip them apart from the inside out, exactly what I have training for."

"Maybe he is not traitor, maybe he does as you say. Someone must know him, but Quaritch say is very secret; we must find out who this man is."

"Maybe Mr. Selfridge would know." Andrey suggested.

"It doesn't matter." Brown broke in, "One man, on our side or not; we will still kick their asses."

"We do not look for war, we cannot win."

"Can't win? You're the one using up all the resources preparing for war." Brown accused.

The Colonel, against the will of the Administrators, had for the past year been churning out all manner of weapons, equipment and vehicles from the base's factories. He had also started to up-arm from the standard equipment used by the RDA, but there was only so much he could do from this base. If he retook his old base he could have top of the line weapons and war machines.

"It's just precaution; in time of peace, prepare for war."

"Precaution my ass, with all this firepower we could take over this damn planet."

* * *

Ivan sat with his head resting against his hand, his head still hurt; Neytiri could hit hard, he was lucky he didn't get knocked out. His shoulder was back in place, or at least it looked like it, the swelling made it hard to tell, it felt better than it did but it still hurt. When they heard a loud pop, and the pain faded, they both guessed it was in the proper place.

Jake was with Neytiri as she soothed the Pali Ivan tried to bond with, his freak out scared the Pali; it had been stomping around the fields in a panic.

Jake approached with Neytiri and the Pali in tow, "So you want to try again? You know what to expect now." He asked Ivan.

Ivan sighed, "What the hell? Got to learn some time."

He stood up and walked over the Pali, he glanced at his shoulder; swollen and purple, it was going to hurt for a while.

"Need help getting up?" Jake asked as Ivan looked up to the Pali.

"Goddammit." Ivan complained as he put his hands on the Pali, getting ready to climb up. "I can drive a tank, fly a helicopter." He moaned as he put weight on his shoulder, "I can work an AMP, I've ran in battlesuits."

Jake heard the last comment and his eyebrows shot up for a second, he wanted to know about that. Battlesuits were for only the most elite of soldiers, you could run through walls, jump up buildings, and take bullets like they were spitballs. This was something he wanted to know about.

Ivan bounced up and down, readying himself to jump up, "I've jumped out of planes, and I've hell jumped." He bounced one last time before jumping up.

"I can ride a damn horse." He said as he pulled himself atop the Pali.

After settling atop the Pali he grabbed his shoulder and moaned, it hurt.

"Alright, if you fall this time; you can get your own self up. I'm going to stand over here." Jake said taking a few steps back.

Ivan exhaled and readied himself, he tried to reach back to his braid with his right arm but the sharp pain stopped him. He took his braid in his other hand and held it close to the Pali's, before he connected he mumbled to the horse. "If you throw me off, I will gut your sorry ass."

He brought the braids together, he watched as the pink tendrils intertwined together, and he felt that strange presence in his mind again. He fought his instincts, he couldn't shut himself off, he wasn't being interrogated. There was no danger here, but this was the strangest thing he ever felt. He could feel not only himself but Pali, its heartbeat its breathing; it was too much for him.

The Pali snorted and shook a little, "Calm." Neytiri called out, approaching them.

Ivan swore he could see not only through his eyes but also the through the Pali, he could feel what it was thinking. The Pali was trying to figure out what exactly he was; he wasn't a Na'vi, that was all the horse could figure out. Its thoughts, that freaked Ivan out, this was the strangest thing he had ever done. It's heartbeat, its breathing, its thoughts, he could feel it stomp its legs into the ground, its annoyance at this strange being riding it.

He took several steadying breaths, "This is...strange." When he said that the Pali whinnied, and Ivan laughed. "He...thinks I'm strange."

Jake and Neytiri both smiled, "It's amazing isn't it?" Jake asked.

"Strange is what I call it." Once again the Pali protested. "I don't think he likes me."

"Probably not." Jake said. "Now ride around some, all you have to do is think it, and the Pali will do it."

He was determined not to fall again; he braced himself while keeping his weight off his right shoulder. And simply thought 'move slow', and the Pali slowly waked forward. He smiled as he walked the animal around slowly; this was easier than driving a car, and dare he say more fun?

He walked it around the field several times, whatever way he thought the animal would obey, he could tell it to simply walk or give it a specific place. It was strange, interesting, and yes, amazing. He found that the Pali stopped trying to figure out what he was and simply walked where it was told to go; from what he could tell, it was a very docile creature, content to simply march around as ordered.

"Nothing too this." He said, walking it by Jake and Neytiri.

"Why don't you try running?" Jake asked, secretly hoping to make Ivan trip up; Ivan was doing much, much, better than his first attempt. Maybe Jake shouldn't have tried to run right from the start.

"Run? And fall? We'll save that for later, I don't want to break my shoulder."

As Ivan got further away Jake and Neytiri turned to each other. They held each other's eyes for a moment; then Neytiri brought her hand up to the bruise now on the side of Jake's head.

"Ow." Jake said when she pressed on it._ "He hits hard." _He said in Na'vi

_"I was worried."_ Neytiri said. _"I saw his eyes, and there was nothing behind them. Then he stuck you, I saw him grab the rock..." _

_"It's okay." _Jake said when Neytiri started to look worried. _"I'm okay, and you kicked some butt. We'll just have to be more careful with him from now on."_

Neytiri gave a half smile at the strange compliment.

She ran her thumb over the bruise, _"Kiss it and make it better?"_ Jake asked.

Neytiri looked passed them, Ivan was facing the other way; so she quickly stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to the side of Jake's head.

Jake held her eyes; he could stare into those golden orbs for all eternity and never stop thinking about how beautiful they were. He took her hands in his and leaned down and lightly kissed her. She reciprocated the kiss for only a second before pulling away.

_"Not here." _She shied away.

_"Why not?"_ Jake leaned in for another kiss.

_"No Jake, only in private."_ She backed away slightly.

_"We're alone."_

_"But Ivan." _

_"He's too far away. Besides, why do we care what he thinks?"_

Neytiri gazed at the man she loved; she loved every part of him, body, soul, and spirit. She loved his strong arms, and bigger build, his lighthearted and almost childish attitude, his indomitable spirit; she loved this man more than life itself. She felt a familiar burning in her loins, she knew what it was but Jake was still clueless; if he couldn't figure out on his own why they mated so frequently then that was his problem.

When Jake tried to kiss her again, she pressed one finger to his lips, _"Later Ma Jake."_ She said with a sly smile on her face.

_"Oh boy, I like that smile."_ Jake said.

They turned their attention back to the approaching Ivan; he had built up some more speed but was still making sure he wouldn't fall from the Pali.

* * *

Tayrha sat on the outside of hometree, a small bowl in her hands she was crushing leaves inside of. Her friend Launume sat behind her, working beads into Tayrha's hair. She had been friends with Launume for as long as she could remember; they had always been there for each other, they were like family. They had both trained to be healers together, but when certain events transpired, Tayrha became a hunter while Launume continued her training; but they still remained best friends.

As Launume braided her friend's hair, she watched Tayrha's mouth twitch; she could tell her friend was hurting, but she didn't ask, if she wanted to talk she would. They both sat in silence as one worked beads into the other's hair, and one crushed leaves to be used by the healers.

After a long while Tayrha broke the silence. _"I..." was_ all she said. Launume didn't press, but she listened.

Tayrha crushed the leaves violently several times, and her mouth twitched again.

_"Calm my friend."_ Launume soothed. _"They leaves did nothing too you, tell me what is wrong."_

They both sat in silence for several more moments before Tayrha spoke. _"You know the male I was courting?"_

_"Yes-"_

Before she could say the male's name Tayrha interrupted. _"Do not say that cowards name."_ Her voice was strained.

_"I should assume it did not work out?"_ Launume asked.

Tayrha fought back a single tear; she wouldn't cry over this, she was used to it. _"He said no." _She sobbed slightly, _"Like all the others."_

_"I'm sorry."_ Launume patted her shoulder before continuing to work braids into her hair. _"It is not your fault."_

_"I know." _Tayrha's voice was stuck between anger and despair. _"My stupid brother, he scared him off."_

_"He is only looking out for you."_

_"He needs to stop and stay out of my life."_ Tayrha snapped. _"I am sorry; I did not mean to yell."_

_"It is okay, but you wouldn't want him anyway. If he is too scared of your brother to want you as a mate, then why should you want him?"_

_"I know, it's just there are only so many males. And none of them would take me as a mate; all of them are scared off by my brother. And he wants me to mate with one of his warrior friends; but they do not see me, I will never mate with one of his friends."_

_"Do not worry, Eywa has someone for you."_

_"Who?" _Tayrha asked in desperation. _"I am the woman who cannot find a mate, there is no one left."_

_"Well...there is that new dreamwalker." _Launume suggested.

Tayrha was taken aback, _"A dreamwalker...you cannot be serious."_

_"I'm just suggesting, you asked me who. Neytiri and Ninat are very happy with their mates."_

_"My brother would never approve of that, you know how much he hates the sky people."_

Launume stopped and stared at her questioningly for several seconds. _"Since when did you care what your brother thinks?"_

She was right, _"I do not, but."_

_"But what?" Launume challenged._

_"They are strange."_

Launume laughed, _"I find it attractive...exotic, that new dreamwalker does look good; even if he hides in those strange clothes."_

_"Yes." _Tayrha admitted.

Just that moment, Ivan emerged from the trees; walking towards the trail leading to the lake, his right side was covered in mud.

_"Look who it is." _Launume pointed out. _"If you don't try, I might."_

_"No, I know about you and Omati. Besides you don't speak any Inglisi"_

_"Yes."_ Launume admitted, she already had her mate, it wasn't official but it would be soon. _"But Tayrha, you must try; your brother will never approve of anyone, and the dreamwalker might not be scared of your brother. Jakesully wasn't scared of Tsu'tey, Eytukan, or Moat. Normspellman wasn't afraid of all the suitors seeking Ninat."_

_"It is not enough to not fear my brother." _Tayrha sighed; years ago she found a male that stood up to her brother. _"They also must be able to fight him."_ Her brother had beaten him almost to death, after that the male stayed away from her; sadly he died during the time of great sorrow.

_"Yes, but you must still try. The dreamwalkers surprise all of us; go and talk with him, find out his name, just talk and go from there."_

_"His name is Ivan."_

_"How did you know?" _

_"I have already spoken with him."_ She did more than speak, maybe more than just speak...but the dreamwalker didn't seem offended, he was only calm, challenging her to kill him. That took her aback last night, she wasn't expecting that kind of response; and she definitely wasn't expecting the dreamwalker to be able to disarm her. Maybe, if some relationship formed, maybe this dreamwalker would be the one to defeat her brother.

_"Then you have already started. What is he like?"_

_"He is quiet, calm, and showed no fear. I might have sneaked up on him."_

_"Tayrha." _Launume stopped braiding her hair. _"I hope you didn't do anything that would scare him off."_

_"Scared isn't the right word."_

_"Well hopefully whatever you did didn't scare him away. Go talk to him"_

_"He is going to the lake to bathe. I cannot go now." _

Launume had finished braiding her hair, she put the spare beads back in a pouch and handed them to Tayrha. _"Then walk slowly."_

Tayrha gave the bowl of crushed leaves to Launume, before slowly starting her way to the lake. Launume watched her go and wished her luck, her friend needed to find someone; no parents, a sometimes abusive brother, very few friends, none of them being male. Over the course of Tayhra's life, Launume had watched her best friend slowly become an outcast; but through it all she remained strong.

Launume gave a prayer for her friend as she took the bowl of crushed herbs and mixed it with a bowl of water. Stirring them, they slowly turned to a paste which could be placed on cuts to clean and seal the wound.

* * *

Mike yawned as he flipped another page in the book Stephen had given him; he woke up only an hour ago but he was tired already, he had been sitting on the side of his bunk reading the whole time. The more he read the more interesting he became, if the things he was reading were true; he wasn't sure if Ivan was a good guy or a bad guy. He tried to take it all with a grain of salt but his gut told him that the things he was reading was truth. He had read many pages but the chapter on this man was a large one; he wasn't going to finish anytime soon.

He had lost track of time, some of the things he was reading about blew his mind; some things Ivan has been accused of, Mike first learned about in history class. So many sightings of this man thought to be Ivan, so many jobs, money trails, battles...a lot of bodies. This man had been sighted in nearly every country on Earth; and was wanted the world over, his bounty at the publication of the book, was twenty million alive. And that bounty was only a combined total from major governments, notably America, Russia, Britain, Germany, France, China, and the largest single money amount was from Israel.

The business in Israel made Mike rethink his feelings toward Ivan; there was evidence and witnesses that pointed to Ivan for a school bombing that cost the lives of two hundred and forty children and staff. Besides the major governments, there were private organizations that wanted him, many smaller third world countries, a paramilitary group that employed him during the Israel school incident, the U.N., the E.U., and Interpol.

How in the nine-hells could the RDA hire someone like this, Mike couldn't believe it; and he wasn't even halfway through the chapter. The RDA had no morals at all apparently, there was no way they didn't know who they were hiring; they probably didn't care, this man was the best of the best and the worst of the worst at the same time.

Mike started to wonder what could have happened during Ivan's time on Pandora, and why this man would betray the RDA and choose to stay here. But his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door.

He didn't know who it could be, "Who is it?" He said.

He recognized Corporal Amy Katherine's voice from the other side of the door. "It's me, can I come in?"

"Sure." The door opened and the redhead walked in.

"Haven't seen you in a while honey, have you been hiding from me?" Amy asked as she looked around his room.

"Hiding? No, Sleeping, Ja." Mike answered as he read.

"You sleep like a dog you know that? You sleep whenever you're tired, where ever too; I was up last night and I came to visit you and you were asleep in the mess hall."

"I'm tired, what else do you expect me to do? Stay up?"

Amy walked up and stood in front of him as he sat on his bunk reading. "Are you reading?"

"I might be." He glanced up at her.

She sat down on his lap, "I do so like me a smart man."

"Mmm hmm." Mike kept reading.

Amy huffed in annoyance, "So, is that book more important than me?"

"Hmm? Book or girl?" Mike glanced between the two. "Book or girl...book or sex?" He glanced again.

"This is a surprisingly hard choice." He said tossing the book to the side and pulling Amy to him.

She let out a squeal as he threw her on the bunk and pressed kisses along her neck. She ran her hands through his messy hair as he undid her uniform and his kissing went down from her neck. Her breath hitched and she moaned in pleasure when his lips met her breasts while his hands continued down her body.

At first it had only been a passing interest she had with him; but she after a while she found she actually liked Mike. Unlike some others he wasn't a jerk, unlike Ethan he wasn't and idiot, and unlike some other idiot jerks, he actually liked her...and he wasn't bad in bed either, and unlike most men in general, he took care of her needs not just his own.

* * *

Ivan grunted in pain as he tried to pull his jacket on, but his shoulder just wouldn't allow it.

"Screw it." He said as he threw it down beside him. It took him a great amount of effort to get his clothes off, getting them back on was even harder; he just couldn't get his jacket on. So he had to settle for just his shirt.

His shoulder didn't look any better, it didn't feel any better, something must still be wrong with it; it was horribly out of place and it probably wasn't fully in back in place. He tried to roll it but it would barely move, it just continued hurting. Even from under his shirt he could see the swelling.

_"Hurts don't it?" _He heard a voice that made him freeze. _"Oh did I scare you?"_

He hadn't heard that voice in over forty years; that voice wasn't real, it couldn't be.

He blinked several times when he saw his brother emerge from under the surface of the lake and walk towards him with a smile on his face.

"Y-you're not real." Ivan muttered, how hard did he hit his head earlier?

His brother put on a hurt expression._ "Now that hurts little brother." _Ivan stared straight ahead, ignoring whatever his mind was making up.

_"You always did have a tendency to get hurt."_

Ivan kept staring straight ahead. His brother's image...ghost...whatever it was kneeled down in front of him and waved his hand in Ivan's face. _"Don't ignore me." _The hallucination said.

"I'm imagining this, I must be going crazy." Ivan said to himself.

_"Hey I'm right here."_ The image said. _"That shoulder looks real nasty."_

Whatever this thing was, it wouldn't go away; Neytiri must have smacked him much harder than he thought, maybe he did get knocked out and this was a dream.

_"Nope, not a dream." _The brother laughed and passed a hand through Ivan.

Okay, Ivan was out of his mind.

_"You always were."_ It patronized.

"You are dead." Ivan said to the apparition.

The image of his brother changed its appearance; there was now six bullet wounds covering his brothers body, blood was smeared across his body and across his face. His pupils were dilated and his skin was a sickly white. Sand clung to his body, mixed with sweat and blood.

_"Yeah I am, just thought I'd pay you a visit...oh damn." _His brother stood up and started walking towards the woods. Ivan kept his gaze locked across the lake, ignoring this insanity.

He heard his brother give a low whistle and a grunt from behind him. _"These cat people don't look to bad." _At this comment Ivan looked back and saw the Tayrha emerging from the tree line.

_"Oh man, you should hit that. Get yourself laid brother, take the edge off." _His brother said with a laugh as he disappeared.

Ivan looked back towards the lake for several seconds and rubbed his head. What in the hell was that? Never before had he ever had something like that happen; he wasn't sure, was it a flashback? It couldn't be, his brother...it...he was talking to him. He had strange dreams like this sometimes, where old friends would talk to him; but never before did anything happen while he was awake.

He would think about that later, he turned his attention back to the Na'vi woman standing near the trees. She looked apprehensive, she should be; she attacked him yesterday. He tried to remember the greeting Spellman had taught him yesterday, he heard it a million times today.

_"Oel ngatì kameie"_ He finally remembered, "I hope I'm saying it right."

Tayrha smiled, _"Oel ngati Kameie." _She said, "You say right. May I join you?" she asked.

"Y-yeah." He stammered, he was still shaken from whatever that vision of his brother was.

Tayrha approached him and took a spot at his right side. She looked at his arm with concern.

"This," She placed one hand on his bad shoulder and pressed lightly. "This is...was." she didn't know the right word.

"Dislocated?" Ivan said.

"Yes. Why you no have fix?" She asked, turning towards him to examine his shoulder.

"I did, I don't thinks it's fixed properly though." She pressed on his shoulder and he winced, "That's tender."

"I help." Tayrha said, getting closer and probing his shoulder. "Remove." She said pulling at his shirt.

"What?" He asked looking at her.

"I need to see to fix. This need be taken care of now."

He grumbled as he tried to pull his shirt off with his one good arm, his right arm wouldn't move up and he was having trouble. Tayrha helped pull his shirt off and tossed it behind her. She cringed when she saw the full extent of the damage. She once again placed her hands on his shoulder; she was focusing on his injuries but a small part of her admired the tough feel of his muscles, very rarely had she touched a male.

"This...this does not hurt you?" She asked moving his arm up.

"This is nothing." He said slowly.

She ran her hand up his arm and around his shoulder, getting a feel for where the bone actually needed to be.

Ivan was starting to wonder if she knew what she was doing when she spoke up. "This need to come up." She tugged his arm upwards slightly, "And in." She looked in his eyes. "This may hurt."

She pulled his arm out straight beside him, and tried to slowly rotate it; but it wasn't moving, "Sorry." She said.

Before Ivan could ask why, she gave his arm a quick jerk up and he gritted his teeth in pain as it moved.

Before he could do anything else, she rolled his arm and pressed it towards his body. It took everything he had not to curse and yell at her as she worked. She continued pressing his arm towards him while she pressed down on his shoulder; she couldn't believe how out of place it was.

He was going to tell her to stop, but he felt his whole arm suddenly move closer to his body with a 'pop' and the pain instantly started to fade. He sighed in relief as he looked at his shoulder, it didn't look so bad. It was still swollen and purple but he could easily see that it had changed position. He couldn't believe he had been walking around with his shoulder so out of place; he needed to yell at Sully for not fixing it properly.

"There." Tayrha released his arm. "I no see anything that bad before."

He rolled his shoulder, it hurt when he did so but not as much as it used to. "Thanks, what are you a medic?"

She looked confused.

"A doctor I mean." He corrected, military habits clouded his vocabulary sometimes.

"_Toktor_? _Kehe_, _sa'nok_...mother was _toktor. _I was to be also; but..." She quieted and looked across the lake. Ivan could tell why; he had seen that type of sorrow before.

"Sorry." He offered. "I lost my mother when I was young."

She gave a small nod; she had also lost her father, and then only a year ago her home and many of her friends were destroyed by the skypeople.

They both sat in silence for several minutes before Tayrha asked him a question. "Why you here?"

He thought about that question, he thought about it every day. "I had nothing left." He gave a simple answer.

She looked at him, waiting for him to explain.

After several more moments he continued, "I lost everything a long time ago. My family, my home, my job, even my friends. I had nothing left there; so I came out here." he didn't know why but talking to the natives was easier than talking to another human.

"Why would you leave your clan?" She asked, "Why would you come to my home?"

"I didn't leave my 'clan', it didn't want me, and I didn't want it. I drifted for my whole life after that, did stupid things; then I was offered a chance to come here so I took it."

"I no can see why you would want to leave home." She shook her head. Well, maybe she could, sometimes she would think of leaving the Omatikaya; that maybe there was something or someone for her in another clan. This dreamwalker seemed to have things in common with her.

"I didn't have a home. But I am starting to think coming out here was a bad idea." He laughed, "You know what I want?"

"No."

"I want to go home."

"Then why did you not when Jakesully sent all other skypeople back to their home?" She asked. She couldn't imagine leaving her home like the humans did.

"Because I helped you Na'vi out. I fought against my own people, my own friends, my commanders." He stopped for several seconds. "And I don't know why."

"What you mean?"

"I don't know why I did it. I could have stopped Sully from escaping; I caught Trudy and Max before they rescued him. But something told me not to stop them."

* * *

_Trudy was pushing a lunch cart through the halls on they way to the detention block, Max was following behind her. It was a simple plan, walk in, take care of the guard, get everyone to her bird and fly out of here. Maybe it wasn't much of a plan but it was the quickest they could think of.  
_

_Her and Max had gotten lucky, there wasn't another soul around this part of the base. She was turning a corner when suddenly a foot stepped out and the lunch cart stopped dead, then Ivan walked into view and leaned on the cart. She met his cold glare, she didn't falter; she would take him out if she needed too._

_"Lieutenant Chacon." He said in an ice cold tone, his gaze still locked with hers. _

_"Master Sergeant." She responded, her voice calm._

_Ivan glanced at the lunch cart and then Max, before locking with her eyes. She slowly moved her right hand from the cart, trying to go for the pistol in her belt._

_"Don't try it." He said glancing down at the cart. "I'm quicker on the draw than you."_

_She put her hand back onto the cart, she didn't know how this was going to go down, but she wasn't giving up; she was going to get her friends out of this place._

_"So this is your plan?" Ivan pushed the cart lightly. "Just walk in there? Pretty ballsy."_

_Trudy gave the slightest chuckle. "More or less."_

_"I have an obligation to stop you...orders."_

_So this is how it was going to happen, she prepared herself for a fight._

_"I should shoot you both right here on the spot."_

_Trudy was about to go for her sidearm. Max's expression became dreadful as he took a step back._

_"But..." Ivan sighed and stood up from the cart. "I'm sick of this shit. And my gut is telling me to forget about this."_

_They stood for several more silent seconds before Ivan stepped aside and began walking past them. "Good luck." He said to them._

_Trudy started walking immediately, not questioning Ivan's actions. That went better than she thought it would; she wasn't sure how well she could trust Ivan but she couldn't waste time._

_Max stood there dumbfounded, "Ivan you're not-"_

_"You better hurry before I change my mind." _

_Max took the hint and hurried off after Trudy. _

_What did he just do? Did he just let them go, those traitors. He should have killed them on the spot; or at least inform the Colonel. But no, he wouldn't; something told him not to. He needed a drink; the situation around here was becoming more fucked up by the second._

_

* * *

_

To this day he couldn't figure out why he didn't stop them. But he guessed it might have turned out for the better; at least better for him, if Sully hadn't rallied the Na'vi things might still be as they were. And he might not have this chance to save himself from the cancer; strangely he hadn't had much trouble with it today. But for humanity...no more unobtanium for a long time, that was going to send Earth into a frenzy. He might have helped with the downfall of the human race, he had done some bad things in his life but that would take the figurative cake.

If there was some other way out of this mess instead of becoming one of the blues, aside from dying, he would take it.

Not only could he not go home because he was a traitor, but everyone on Earth that ever wanted him dead would have found out by now that he was here. As soon as he stepped foot back on Earth he would be dead. He chose to betray the RDA to save his own skin, he took the chance when the opportunity arose; but that was after Sully had beaten Quaritch. He still couldn't figure out what possessed him to let Trudy and Max go, but it worked out, to an extent.

He and Tayrha sat in silence; she didn't want to interrupt him since he looked like he was thinking. She discreetly admired his body, it was strange. He looked strong, he was a cross between the bulk that Jakesully had and the skinnier Normspellman; who were both bulkier than an average Na'vi. His eyes were smaller than a Na'vi's and he had eyebrows; the different hairstyle, there were no beads or decoration, the dreamwalkers had no sense of fashion. The only thing he wore that might be considered decorative was that strange necklace, it was made of tiny silver beads with two large rectangles hanging at the ends; every skyperson she had seen had wore those, maybe they were not for style, they may be for something religious. His strange accent and their strange language; even stranger was the extra finger and toe. but she found all of it strangely attractive, like Launume said, it was exotic. For some unexplainable reason she found herself attracted to the differences.

She broke the silence. "You are quiet." She pointed out.

"Don't have much to say." He glanced at her, she was leaning forward; her necklace failed to cover her breasts. They were small compared to human standards, but they worked for the Na'vi, they were proportional.

"Maybe." She suggested, trying to find a reason she could talk to him regularly. "You can help with my Inglisi."

He thought it over, she was a damn sight nicer to look at than Norm; but the last thing he needed to do was start to grow attached or form a relationship to one of the natives. Don't grow attached, it was a rule he had never broken during an assignment. If he made friends while on an operation, they would either end up dead, or have their lives destroyed; it was the nature of his work, and he hated it. It was a rule Sully had broken, it cost not only the RDA, but also the Na'vi; countless lives were spent because he went chasing after a woman. If he had done his job like he was supposed to, he would have gotten the Na'vi to leave hometree; but then again Quaritch was always out for blood, it might not have changed anything.

"I don't know...Inglisi," He copied how she pronounced it. "Isn't my first language either."

She was confused, not his first language; there were others? "Not your first language?"

"No, English was the second, or maybe third I learned." Actually it might have been his fourth, he knew Arabic and Chinese before English; but English was the first he mastered.

"What other do you speak? I did not know there was more than Inglisi."

"Russian." He spoke a few words of it to show her. "Russia is the 'clan' I am from, and we speak Russian. Do you not have any other languages?"

"No." Maybe different dialects, but another language; she had never heard of anything of the sort before the sky people arrived. "But you will help me with my Inglisi?"

"I don't know." He wasn't sure if he didn't want to help, or he was just trying to avoid having to spend more time here than he needed to.

"Please?" She asked, maybe he didn't like her; she hoped that wasn't the case. "I have no one practice Inglisi with, I can help with Na'vi. And you need make friend, or do you plan to spend all your time alone?"

He sighed in defeat, he had no real reason not to help her; he didn't want to tell her to leave him alone, strange because normally he could, but she seemed different. All the Na'vi seemed different; they didn't get on his nerves as much as humans did.

And she did have a point with the friends part, he didn't want any, he wanted to be left alone, but he was going to be spending his life here. He still tried to deny that part, he didn't want to be stuck out here but he was; if he didn't make friends then he would be stuck without friends, in a place he didn't want to be.

Training also told him to 'make' friends, become friends to them but not to him; an undercover operator doesn't want to be the outcast or the center of attention, he just wants to blend in. Make nice with a few people to fit in, make nice with important people to put himself in a position to destabilize things; he was already 'friends' with Sully, so if he needed...

He caught himself as his thought train went somewhere they shouldn't; he wasn't trying to tear this place apart, but he was already setting himself up to be in position too. _'Always have a backup plan'_ He thought, although he hoped he wouldn't have to use that plan.

"I guess we could help each other sometime. Just don't go trying to pull a knife on me again." He semi-reluctantly agreed. He noticed the glowing spots on her face light up, the Na'vi equivalent of a blush he guessed.

"Sorry." She offered. "I no know what I was thinking."

"Stranger things have happened. Just don't do that again."

"You should no be walking alone." Animals rarely ventured close to hometree, but they sometimes came to the lake; no one should walk around the jungle alone and unarmed. "And should no be..." What was the word? "With no..."

"Don't walk around unarmed?"

"Yes, this is no safe place."

"Who says I'm unarmed?" He reached to his suspender laying to his left; and pulled his knife from its sheath. "I'm not dumb enough to walk around unprotected." Being caught unarmed was a rookie mistake...so was being beaten by a woman in hand-to-hand fight, but he was injured; not an excuse but he was going to use it as one.

He had taken her knife from her last night, so he offered his to her. "It's sharp." He cautioned when she slowly took it.

It was a beautiful blade in his opinion; its worn black finish, the large silver edges he brought almost to a razor's sharpness. The curved false edge, that he did himself, the saw teeth, and blood grooves, and a perfect balance. It was money well spent in his opinion.

Tayrha hefted it in her hand and examined the strange human knife; like every thing they made, there was no decoration, the only style that could be found might be in the shape and the contrast between the black finish and the silver edges as the fading sunlight reflected off them.

She lightly ran her finger over the edge and it cut her skin.

"I told you it's sharp. Now don't go hurting yourself." Ivan said.

"Bah." She wouldn't hurt herself; some males think that because she is a woman, she is not as capable as them, she hated that.

Ivan stood and went to retrieve his shirt from the ground. Tayrha watched him and noticed on his left shoulder and as well as his chest and stomach there were small circular scars which she instantly recognized as ones caused by human guns. There were also smaller nicks and scratches on his arms and body; he looked more like a real man than the other dreamwalkers did when they first arrived.

Now that he could actually move his arm it was easy to put his shirt and jacket back on. Tayrha made a comment about him hiding behind the clothes before they walked back to hometree.

Tayrha remembered his comment the previous night about him being a warrior. That almost put her off, she didn't like the warriors. But Ivan only looked like one and moved like one the previous night when he disarmed her, but he didn't act like one. He wasn't loud, he didn't boast about himself constantly; unlike the warrior her brother wanted her to mate with, he didn't look at her with greedy and disgusting eyes. She had caught the dreamwalkers eyes on her once, but it was only for a second.

During the walk back they exchanged idle chatter, but every time Tayrha started the conversation. His demeanor wasn't what she was expecting when she first saw him; Jakesully was always friendly and was liked by more or less everyone, minus her brother. Normspellman would go out of his way to talk with people; they both were friendly and liked to talk. But Ivan, he seemed to keep to himself; as long as it was with everyone and not just with her, she wouldn't be worried.

Worried about what exactly? She was getting ahead of herself, she barely knew him. At least he talked to her, most males wouldn't say anything to her in fear of her brother's wrath; she hoped that once he found out who her brother was, he wouldn't scare off.

They were nearing the edge of the clearing that Hometree dominated, as soon as Tayrha stepped from the tree line she froze in her tracks. She saw the form of her brother in the distance, she couldn't let him see her with the dreamwalker; she couldn't let him see her with anyone.

"You okay?" Ivan asked after almost bumping her when she suddenly stopped.

"You go, I have things to do." She motioned him on; she would wait before going to hometree.

"Okay...bye." Ivan said idly as he walked away. The Na'vi were terrible liars; he could easily tell by her tone of voice, but also by her body language. She had seen something, and she tensed up for several seconds before telling him to go on without her.

As Ivan walked to hometree he spotted a Na'vi that had to be the one Sully had warned him about earlier; and possibly the reason for Tayrha's unease. Coming towards him was a massive Na'vi, easily standing more than a head taller than anyone else, and while still skinny he was bulky for a Na'vi. He wore more than most others, he wore intricate wrist guards and a well decorated weapon holster; his bow had feathers hanging from it and intricate designs carved in its surface. The comparison to Goliath that Jake gave was a good one. The massive male walked as if he owned the place; and as head warrior, he probably did command great respect.

As they passed each other, the male hissed at him and moved towards Ivan slightly in an attempt to frighten him.

"Fuck off." Was Ivan's cool response. He wasn't going to take shit from anyone, especially some overgrown smurf with a superiority complex.

* * *

Jake stood hand in hand with Neytiri at the entrance to hometree. He didn't know when something as simple as holding hands became so pleasurable, it was so simple, and honest. He felt Neytiri's tail brush against his leg before coiling around it ever so slightly. The corner of his mouth twitched into a grin as he glanced at her.

At the Pali field when she told him later, she had actually meant as soon as they were done with Ivan. Jake wasn't one to complain, and no man should ever complain about having a mate that wanted him so badly, or frequently. But it was starting to make him wonder, she wasn't like this several months ago; now she would drag him off at least once a day, and she was more aggressive in her actions, he was lucky if afterwards he wasn't left with scratches or bite marks. Whenever they made tsahaylu he could feel how much she needed him; it wasn't a want but a need, and she certainly got it. It would worry him if it wasn't so fun or pleasurable; but he was going to have to ask her what was going on.

"Don't you two just look perfect together?" Ivan's sarcastic tone cut into Jake's thoughts.

Neytiri's tail left Jake's leg but she still held his hand. "How's the arm?" Jake asked.

"Well it's fixed now, no thanks to your dumb ass."

"Aww that hurts." Jake put his hand over his heart and put on a hurt expression. "What do you mean it's fixed now?"

"A healer or someone saw me walking around. She made me stop, and fix it."

"I told you we should have gotten a healer Jake." Neytiri scolded, to which Jake responded with a shrug.

"She told you Sully." Ivan took Neytiri's side.

"And you told me to fix it myself." Jake defended.

"Last time I trust a marine."

"Now that's uncalled for." Jake's ears dropped. "It was so messed up, how was I supposed to know it wasn't fixed?"

"I'm just saying, you're not making a good impression."

Before Jake could defend his beloved marine corps, Ninat's sing-song voice broke in with concern.

"Jakesully are you okay?" Ninat asked as she approached with Norm in tow.

"Whoa, Jake, what's with the bruises?" Norm also asked.

Neytiri looked to Ivan, but Jake stood for several seconds before becoming dramatic.

"Oh man it was horrible." He said in a weary voice. "Ninjas."

"What?" Everyone but Ivan asked at once.

"Ninjas, hundreds of them; came out the trees." Norm chuckled at this and it even earned a smirk from Ivan; but Neytiri and Ninat stood there confused.

"Where were you Norm? Could have used your help; if Neytiri and Ivan weren't there I would have been done for."

"What is a ninjha?" Ninat asked.

Jake had to think for several seconds, some things were hard to explain; but this was relatively easy. "A shadow warrior."

"Jake there were none of these ninjha." Neytiri corrected.

"Yes there were; you were to busy fighting with Ivan to notice me having to fight off hundreds of them by myself."

"Jake." Neytiri chuckled. "You know those bruises are from you losing to Ivan."

Jake let out a long sigh, fighting ninjas sounded better than getting beat by a half-crippled insane man.

"So what happened?" Norm asked.

"Well first, Ivan here set a new speed record for fastest screw up with a Pali." Jake motioned to Ivan who gave a small cheer pumped his fist in the air.

"Wish I could have seen that." Norm added.

"Yeah, he got some good air."

"Yes, it was funny." Neytiri agreed. "I am sorry Ivan."

"Hey, I would laugh if it was you." Ivan responded.

"Then like an idiot, I went to help him up; not thinking to watch out or ask if he was okay."

"Skxwang." Neytiri interrupted.

Jake stopped and stared at her for several seconds. "Anyway, I try and help him up. I then find myself on the ground with him about to bash my head in with a rock."

Ninat looked shocked, both she and Norm looked to Ivan in disbelief.

"I don't remember much of it." Ivan said, unapologetically.

"Luckily for me, Neytiri here came out of nowhere...like a ninja; and saved my ass."

"You're lucky Sully." Said Ivan, "I guess I am too. I told myself I would...try not to kill anyone while I was here." When Neytiri and Ninat gave him accusing looks he apologized. "Sorry bad joke. I don't want to kill anyone."

* * *

Tayrha hissed in her brother's face as he grabbed her roughly by the arm.

_"Let me go!"_ She spat in his face. She tried to free herself from his grip, but it was to no avail.

_"You will stay away from those demons."_ Ko'gan commanded.

_"I am not near them." _She slapped his hand, trying to free herself.

Ko'gan pulled her closer to him, his massive size putting her off balance she could only keep on foot on the ground as she was held up by him.

_"You will stay away from those scum." _They were face to face; Ko'gan was leaning over and pulling her off the ground to accomplish this.

Ignoring the pain in her arm she hissed at him again. _"You do not command me."_

_"You will stay away, or I will kill the dreamwalker." _Ko'gan stated coldly as he lightly tossed her aside.

She gracefully regained her balance and hissed at him before walking into hometree. She rubbed her arm, her skin a deeper shade of blue from his iron grip.

She hated him, he was mean and cruel, and it didn't matter to him that she was his only remaining family member. He treated her worse than he treated others; it made her want to cry sometimes, but she was stronger than that. She counted herself lucky that he had only grabbed her; sometimes he wasn't so...lenient.

But she would ignore him, Ko'gan couldn't watch her all day; as long as he didn't physically catch her near Ivan, she would be okay. Actually, she couldn't get near any male without Ko'gan getting angry; she didn't know why he took it upon himself to try and play matchmaker, he wanted her to mate with one of his warrior friends, anyone else was not 'worthy'. And any male that wasn't one of his friends, he would scare off, and threaten; or in some cases, fight, and win.

There was no way anyone could challenge him and win, he was too big, to powerful; he could have beaten Tsu'tey, but he respected him enough not to challenge him, not to mention that they were friends. She was sure he would challenge Jakesully for his title as Olo'eyktan if he could drum up enough support to take over.

She hated her brother, or maybe not hate, hate was a strong word; she loved him as a brother, but she was scared of him, and scared for him. She prayed for him often, being the way he was; there was only a certain amount of time before something bad happened.

* * *

Ivan sat up with a loud moan and threw his legs over the side of the link bed and sat for several minutes. Max wasn't here to bother him; and he felt like hell so he just sat. His ears were ringing, his vision was blurry, each breath hurt. He stared at his hands, they weren't blue; they were the proper color now, they were his real hands. He flexed his fingers and his right pinky didn't move, the tendons for that finger had fused to the bone due to a wound that had been treated improperly.

He put his head in his hands, he felt the stubble on his neck, and the scars across his chin.

He stood up with another groan and started to shuffle towards the door. He stopped himself, he wasn't that old, he forced himself to take normal steps; his legs popped as they moved for the first time in many hours.

He was tired, his chest burned, he had a headache, parts of him didn't want to move; this was the real him, not that blue thing he ran around in all day.

When he reached his room, he walked in and nearly tripped over the vodka bottle scattered on the floor. Deciding he had to clean them up at some point, he took the initiative and started kicking them under his bunk. When he kicked one and it hit something and rolled out from under his bunk; he got down on one knee to see what was under there.

The bottle had been kicked into the safe under his bed; he had forgotten that the safe was even down there. He couldn't remember what he had put in it; he wasn't even sure he could remember the combination.

After several minutes of hard thinking he remembered the combination and opened the safe. Inside the first things he saw were three, one-thousand dollar stacks of International Standard money, and two boxes of ammo for his revolver. Sitting atop the ammo boxes was a blue beret; he took it out and sat it on top of his bed. Then there was a black military grade hard case, grabbing it he looked at the small phone-like device Alice had given him years ago; tapping the screen, he thought it wouldn't work when it didn't immediately come on, but after several seconds the screen lit up, waiting for the device to be unlocked. He sat it back inside before freezing when he saw the last thing sitting upside down in the corner of the safe.

With a shaky hand he reached in and grabbed the flipped picture; turning it over he couldn't breathe. There she was, her blonde hair, that beautiful smile, Anna was holding his newborn daughter in the picture; she had wrote across the picture, 'Miss you daddy'.

He inhaled sharply and turned from his knee to sit on the floor. Anna had given this to Vladimir who pulled strings and had it sent to him in the field. His hands shook as he stared at the picture, the word, daddy, and the infant Anna was holding, he felt his eyes tear up.

He had missed his own daughter's birth, he had missed the entire pregnancy; he didn't even know Anna was expecting until he had the opportunity to call her one day, and then he found out she was six months into the pregnancy.

He had missed everything; he threw the picture back into the safe and slammed the door shut, he couldn't stand himself. Best father, in the world, best husband too; doesn't even know about wife's pregnancy for sixth months and then when he finds out, still can't see her for another five months.

He pulled himself onto his bunk and sat with his head in his hands for hours. Now he remembered why the safe was under his bed, and the picture was in the safe; why did he bring that picture, it hurt more than anything.

He took the beret he had taken out and threw it on his nightstand before lying down. It was one in the morning, but he wasn't going to be able sleep.

And he didn't sleep, for the entire night he couldn't get Anna out of his head; she used to be his love, now she was his curse.

* * *

**Alright, 42 pages and 22,281 words. The longest thing I have written. **

**So I'm not even sure if Ivan is a good guy or a bad guy. Maybe he is  
a bad good guy, or a good bad guy. I'm not sure, that's up to you to  
decide.  
**

**And again sorry for the long update time. But this computer hates me  
fun fact, some of this was done at school during 1st hour where I would  
normally sleep.  
**

**Need to give a shout to AndreyRUS who helped me with Russian names last chapter  
and yes, I threw your name in there. I promise I wont kill you...I think I wont.  
And I thank you for reviewing pretty much every chapter.**

**Other useless trivia, soldiers at Hell's Gate are based off of several of my friends  
Captain Williams "All for one fucking part." That is a quote straight from my father.  
My grandfather influences how I write Ivan's character. My grandfather is a war vet  
who suffers from PTSD, and he also lost the woman he loved during wartime.**

**Now I must get to work on an English assignment that was  
due two days ago!  
**

**Read&Review  
PLEASE!  
**


	11. An apology, a request, and maybe cake

Hello there...it's been a looong time, how have you been? Sorry, I'm quoting Portal 2.

Anyway, after about four months I felt the need to show some form of life to those who read my story.

Life has been, well, a bitch. (Pardon my french)

Failing grades, foreclosure, family, a day in jail, court, internet loss, all this bull crap too put up with.

I'm soooooorrrrrryyyyyy

The latest chapter has sat about 1/4 finished for months now; and I am finally back working on it.

At least I think it is something good; all this time not writing gave me time to really iron out some of the plot.

I've added a lot to this upcoming chapter, cut some, moved things around, and had a little fun with it.

It has a bunch from both sides of Pandora, from happenings at hometree; Ivan and Tayrha running off, Jake f&k's up with Neytiri. To deteriorating conditions

with the humans who appeared last chapter.

But I would also like to request something from my readers. (if you are still out there)

I sorta-kinda-need/want one of those fancy Beta reader people to run these (occasional) chapters by.

If you feel up too it, then leave me a message or something.

I could even throw you in as a character as I still have several characters that need names and what-not.

...In fact, if anyone feels compelled to help me with character names please feel free. (I am horrible at names,

I don't know how I will ever name my children.)

Characters I have with no names include:

a Japanese Engineer with the RDA.

Several Pilots for the RDA

Master Sergeant Andrey's friend from Britain.

A ex-US Navy Captain, and his 1st officer.

A small group of RDA administrators and a junior executive.

And Na'vi names...I need those badly...I can't think up names worth shit and them having to be tribal doesn't help.

If the name thing sounds like a desperate plea for help on my part...it is; seriously people, I can't name things.

I sat for weeks trying to figure out what to call this story...and forever before trying to name Ivan before just picking

the most generic Russian name I could think of.

Okay, that is all, an apology, some good news, and a request for help.

Peace out people.


End file.
